The Honeymooners
by hellorhogwarts
Summary: When Asami is stood up at the altar, her life begins to fall spectacularly apart. Luckily her best friend Korra is there to pick up the pieces. Whisking her away to Ember Island, Korra struggles to be there for her best friend, all the while battling feelings for her.
1. Chapter 1

This was the first wedding she'd attended, Asami thought, that had ever turned sour. It was when they'd been there long enough that the guests began to stand and mill about that she took it upon herself to slip the pins from her hair, and remove her veil.

Sat on the altar like it was a stoop, waiting for a miracle, anything. All eyes were on her, everybody she had ever known looking down on her. Her eyes skated to the empty seats kept for those she'd lost. In a way she was glad her parents weren't there to see this. She did wish however, she hadn't invited so many business partners to fill out the bride's side.

The resounding boom of the heavy oak doors shook through her, and through them came Korra. Wearing a gorgeous blue dress, and a morose expression. Her cool blue eyes met the brides', and she shook her head and the Carmaker suddenly felt tiny.

In her heart of hearts Asami knew what was happening, it was obvious for a plethora of reasons - the time for example - still she saw her best friend, her face and the faces of her friends and family, and well, others, and said,

"No."

Her face pinched as she tried to keep the tears at bay, "_No." _her head fell into her hands as Korra marched towards her.

For a moment she was the loneliest girl in the world, orphaned, abandoned and futureless, and in the next Korra had collided with her and pulled her into her orbit. Wordlessly she held her, she was good like that.

_He's not worth it. _She told herself. _Iroh isn't worth it._

In the cocoon of Korra's arms, she could only think to do one thing, fiercely working the engagement ring from her finger. She felt the weight of it in her palm and she and Korra looked down on it.

"What do I do now?"

Korra's hand covered her palm, free hand tentatively cupping her shoulder.

"You will handle this with all the grace and poise that you can muster right now… and then you and I will get in that limo outside and get shit faced,"

Asami felt the urge to laugh except all her worries came falling out of her mouth in a big wet wad.

_"But what about the cake and dress and the honeymoon and the-"_

_"_Hey-hey, we can cut up the cake and feed five thousand, we can burn the dress, _or return it, _and what's a honeymoon without the prick? A holiday right?" Korra leaned back on her heels, (or flats - she'd be damned if she'd be caught dead in stilettos no matter who's wedding it was) and thumbed the escaping tears over her cheek, "You look like you need one right now."

Rather than imagine the sheer mortifying prospect of spending 3 weeks on Ember Island, the most romantic Honeymoon destination in the world for two, for one, she gripped Korra's wrist.

"Everyone's staring at me." Korra bounced her eyes in response. Looking up to her friends on the brides side and called.

"Boys!"

"Right!" Bolin leapt over the alter into the aisle like a buff, slick flying Bond, followed by his less spectacular brother, who took the more official approach.

"Nothing to see here right now folks, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here."

"Yeah! Family only!" Mako shot his brother a derisive look.

Feeling the cavalry of her friends rally behind her, Asami found her feet. Not many of the grooms family had hung about, but an old man the heres recognised, and really come to love. He hadn't made a move, choosing instead to admire the stained glass above them, and the sun setting, painting the colours around them with a warm, kind palette.

"Zuko," the old man smiled at her, in a sad kind of way. "I'm sorry," she told him, holding the ring to him,

Korra watched as her friend sat beside him, marvelling at her kindness, and the way the dress was painted anew by the light. The old man placed nimble fingers around the blade of it, diamond eeking out that last dimming glint of perfect shine before he told her.

"It would never have worked out between us darling,"

Asami laughed, this time wiping her own tears before hugging him. He patted her back, and whispered something, and Korra swore his golden eyes set on her before the two parted.

She sat beside him, watching her friends usher toxicity out of her life, Bolin and Mako the guests, Opal calling the venue, Korra, just being there.

"I had it all planned out." She muttered, "I lost my family… so I was making my own."

Zuko told her, "Family works it all out in the end,"

"That's easy for you to say! You're 100 years old,"

"And as a _112_ year old man, the grand father of the scoundrel of the groom, I'll tell you this - never settle."

Asami was enjoying the free bar, it had very good lumbar support and somehow her trusty friends had procured a funnel and tube so it provided the perfect beer bong stage. The five of them had taken the wedding venue as a refuge. Opal had kept the bar open, being the unofficial non-wedding organiser, and had made all the calls to get Iroh out of her life. For now at least, the end of the night would go out in a blaze of glory. The old friends would party like there was no tomorrow, or rather, not the tomorrow they expected. Her dress was Versace and had been splashed with vodka, and her make up once agonised over was delightfully smudged.

Korra thought she'd never looked so beautiful.

_You're always wound so tightly, _she would tell her, _but you never look better than you do when you cut loose. _Instead she took a swig straight from the bottle of champagne she had been nursing.

"So when are you going to tell her?" Opal had plopped down beside her.

"Tell her what?" Korra feigned ignorance, watching the Carmaker sputter and laugh and sponge away tears with strips of silk. "Asami, I know it's the worst day of your life, but let's just jump in this grave and let me tell you - _I'm obsessed with you in a stalker-ish way at worst, and love sick pathetic way at best - take your honeymoon with me!"_

"It's a good start, but maybe take out the words with negative connotations, and don't refer to graves but instead…doors opening and closing,"

"On top of you - _help! Let me out!" _Korra beat the air in front of her as though trapped in a coffin, "Maybe if I outfitted it with speakers I could taunt her with my love poems on the way down like in _Days of Our Lives…_"

"Korra look around, you're in with a chance - you're in the game!"

"Opal - if she didn't love me before she was marrying the general what makes you think she'll turn for me now?"

"She does love you!" Opal nudged her enthusiastically.

"_She doesn't_…need this…" she snapped before calming herself, "I'll be her friend, I'll see her through. But the new plan is the old plan, to get over her by years end. I can't do this anymore."

Opal looked at her, as sad for her as she was drunk.

"You wont even try?" She asked.

"I won't risk losing her forever because I tried."

"You might want to get ready to try catching her,"

The volume of the music had doubled and Asami was now stood at the head table, singing, kicking vases with roses to the beat and the brass. Sending shattered glass, petals and rose water into the air in elegant arcs.

"Why did I think I could have fun in this!" she declared, tearing at her skirt. Eventually she took a steak knife from the table, "I can't believe I agree'd to a steak main course - I'm a vegan!"

"Oh the veganity!" Bolin crowed, toasting his whiskey in the air.

"Asami! I think you should get down now…" Korra stepped tentatively toward her, arms open, knees bent. Calculating with her whole body which way the woman might land.

Asami sliced the silk ties at the side of her dress and tore it away with one swoop of fabric and lace. Korra about died at the sight of her, hair tousled, eyes glassy, body clad in the sexiest, blackest, skimpiest lingerie known to womana.

"Korra!" she called, "Take me home." like that her eyes rolled back into her head as she began to fall, and like that Korra plucked her out of the air, expertly plucking the knife from her grasp and tossing it back onto its dinner set.

Upon turning she spotted her three friends watching her, Opal fanned herself and winked antagonistically, Korra fought the blaze of heat over her cheeks.

"Bolin - jacket." she muttered, and he dutifully draped it over her. _Like a drunken angel, _Korra thought as Asami turned into her, sighing gently. "Mako - doors,"

"The limo is waiting outside," Opal informed her. "You've got to get her to make a decision about the-"

"I know," Korra told her, "When she's ready, I'll help her pack."

Korra placed her on the longest couch in the limo, tucking the jacket around her shoulders.

Korra needed distance, she needed to resist the urge to stroke her hair or hold her hand.

"I've not had many weddings turn out the other way." the driver remarked, and Korra remembered him suddenly, "I assume it's not to the hotel?"

"My apartment, South of Kyoshi Park, I'll let you know when we're near."

Asami began to sway onto her back and Korra grabbed her before she fell, keeping her balanced on one side.

The heiress flinched awake, and took in her surroundings. When she looked at Korra relief flooded through her, not thinking how she looked, before she leapt into the lap of her best friend, arms tight around her shoulders.

"Why aren't you hugging me back?"

"Context." Asami looked down and saw she was in her wedding lingerie, cheeks reddening as she reached for Bolin's jacket and wore it this time.

She once again felt the pull of alcohol on her brain and leaned her forehead over Korra's comparably cool shoulder. It was when Korra's hands touched her back however, that she couldn't control her tears from flowing. She'd been abandoned before, and every time it stung.

"Am I a fool?"

"Of course not…"

"How did I not see this coming?"

"He loved you, he might still-"

"You would do this to someone you loved? In front of all your friends? _Your family?"_

"I truly don't know why I'm defending him."

_"Oh Korra," _Asami cupped her cheek, "That's who you are."

There was a moment when Asami leaned into her, when Korra's heart stopped, the pale fingers against her cheek fed into her own hair. That moment passed when Asami pressed her eyes against her throat.

"Can you undo my hair please? _it hurts,_"

Korra gulped thick sand down her throat.

"Sure."

One by one she pulled the bobby pins from silk locks, trying to ignore the arms clinging to her, the tears warming her throat, her own throat pounding out of her chest. She had planned to detox her feelings for her best friend, the wedding marked the end of this, the honeymoon the distance and time she needed to grieve. Iroh had thrown a spanner in the works by not showing up, and for that she could kiss or kill him.

She loved the woman in her arms, there was no getting over it, she was powerless to it. As she contemplated the cliche of the burden she was at the mercy of what Asami asked her next.

"I still have the tickets to Ember Island for tomorrow…"

"Opal asked me to ask you what you wanted to do about that?"

Asami leaned back and held herself steady.

"Come with me."

"Asami," Korra shook her head, it was all she could do in terms of self preservation. "It's your honeymoon trip."

"I can't go back to work - I can't go home, I need _this. _ I can't do this alone."

Korra closed her eyes, and tried to imagine a trip that wouldn't end in the train wreck called _KORRA'S FEELINGS. _

"We can talk about it in the morning."

"Will you say yes?"

"Maybe."

"Please Korra? _I'll be your best friend_." Asami snuggled into her neck and seemed to settle there. Korra let her head fall back and watched the sky through the sunroof. She imagined saying no. Sitting in her apartment, Asami a world away, alone, lovelorn, and never knowing the truth of this, her ultimate showdown.

"I'll call work tomorrow. Tell them I'm not coming in."

Asami was already asleep against her.


	2. Chapter 2

The morning after her wedding, Asami never imagined she'd wind up in another woman's bed.

She knew it by reputation only of course, but there was no denying it was Korra's. She'd always admired her affinity for fur accompaniments to furniture, and right now as her world spun, or rather her head, it was her lifeline. This whole bed smelled of Korra, and knowing she was alone, she buried herself in it.

Her brain was on fire, and she burned through the events of last night. Everything went wrong, so so wrong and she was so, so alone. But then…Korra, Korra carried her through it all. Literally.

"Oh God," she muttered, "Was I naked?"

"PG-13,"

She flinched as Korra came in, yanking the quilts to cover herself, before realising she already was. Bolin's sweat and beer stained jacket was replaced by Korra's homely, lavender scented, Fire Ferrets Jersey.

"You put that on before I could stop you. I think you said you were cold and in need of style."

The heiress was about to make a remark about the exact mix of burlesque-jock she was going for, but when she looked up her heart broke a little more. Korra was carrying a tray.

"Is this too much?"

It was when Asami saw the toast points, balanced carefully into a pyramid next to a perfectly boiled egg, that she broke down into tears.

"Oh God it _was_ too much." Korra froze looking down at the rose she'd happen to find in the store this morning. Korra wasn't an aficionado of breakfast foods, mornings were evil, but she'd never known them to do this to someone before.

She placed them beside her tentatively, and snivelling the heiress plucked a toast point and nibbled it gratefully. Korra was about to leave her to it, when a pale hand grabbed hers, and suddenly the length of her arm as in Asami's embrace.

"Thank you."

Instinctively Korra raised her hand, to do what, she was at a loss for at that moment. When she powered through the awkward and patted her friends' head.

"What do you remember from last night?"

"Well I'm not in a Hotel waiting on a car to the airport at 5, so it's safe to say I didn't get married."

"Asami-"

"I know Korra just, trying on the role of the bitter ex for a while."

"It doesn't suit you." Korra nudged her gently. Asami hummed, dipping toast in egg and biting.

"This is _really good._" she closed her eyes to stem the tears. What was worse that she couldn't imagine a morning where Iroh had been half as thoughtful as this. It took everything she had in her to dip her face in that tray full of love. Instead she stuffed her cheeks with eggs, toast and bacon at an alarming rate. Unbecoming of a lady really, but this was just Korra with her. Just Korra.

"What do you want to do?" Korra asked.

Asami propped her chin on Korra's shoulder, watching her hackles raise like a wounded animal. She still couldn't understand why Korra did this when she was close, still its not like getting any closer would solve the problem. On the one hand she'd had her friends rally around her the instant her heart had been thrown from its pedestal, on another she was independent and free, something she had to admit with the wedding encroaching she'd missed about herself, and the third, the one she didn't want to admit; was that her fiancé had left her, and was yet to inform her as to why.

"Have you heard anything?"

"Not a word." Korra told her firmly, trapped hand squeezing her knee, "Opal picked up your bags from the hotel and his things were gone too."

"Oh," Asami mused at the speed at which her Assistant worked.

"She dropped them here this morning I hope you don't mind. We can drop them back to your apartment if you want."

"What time is it?"

"Almost two,"

"Are you packed?" Asami asked.

"What?" Korra breathed.

"You're coming with me."

"Asami you were drunk-"

"I still meant it…I can't do this without you."

"You don't want to find him? Confront…" Korra's heart wasn't in them getting back together, but she had to go through the hoops of friendship, "the guy?"

"He left me, Korra."

"So kick his ass!"

"He didn't care enough to give me a reason! Why should I care to give up this dream vacation, I have no work no obligations for the next three weeks and now it turns out - I have no husband for the couples massages and diving lessons and hike up Mt Makapu. Are you telling me you couldn't use a free vacation?"

"I-" Korra paused, something telling her that either decision would end up in a world of regret and pain, still better to choose the one with the beach and awesome views. She'd hate-skimmed the pamphlets Asami sent her and had to stop herself when she imagined what Iroh would do to her there. She suddenly conceived a future where she went on outings with her best friend without her hetero counterpart mauling her every chance he got. "Okay."

"Okay?" Asami confirmed.

"Okay,"

"So that's two okays?"

"Yes,"

"No going back," Asami's lips tugged into a smile, briefly, until she was reminded how sad she was meant to be.

"Except in 3 weeks," Korra slid from the bed, schooling her features, feeling Asami watching her as she pulled a case from under the bed and fling it open on her feet.

"Don't get excited or anything." The Carmaker teased.

"Eat your breakfast." Korra deflected, busying herself with selecting the perfect board shorts for crystal blue waters…

The plane tickets were on Asami's desk on her home office, she knew this, because she had forgotten them there, and remembered with just enough time to freak out about the prospect of going back to the apartment she and Iroh had shared. Barely, she mused, recently they had become like passing ships. She had thought nothing of it except that they were both autonomous, busy people. The odds of him being there were next to nothing right? No-one would be that stupid, especially someone with so many other places to be. _Couldn't even make it to your own wedding Iroh - amirite?_

As they pulled up to the tower she felt Korra squeeze the hand she had grabbed. Asami was being needy and selfish and she knew it, but her best friend hadn't yet put any limits on what she would give.

Maybe in some misplaced sense of payback. Korra had had an accident, and before she left to heal with her parents the two were closer than ever. Asami had cared for her more than any friend would without thought, and all that time a bond had set in. Sometimes Asami felt it in her bones.

"You can stay here, keep the meter running? It's just on your desk right?"

"No I can, I can go. Actually," she was looking down at their hands when she told the cab driver, "just wait, we'll be out in a minute."

He nodded affirmation as they shuffled out the car.

Korra wasn't sure what she was doing there, why Asami still clung to her fingers. She kept telling herself it was comfort. The situation called for it. Yet minute after minute she just felt like an exposed duck. It was only when they entered the lift she began to notice a change in her friend.

"Asami?"

_"I can't breathe."_

"Oh shit." She started rubbing her arms instinctively, not really knowing what else to do, "we can turn around right now, we can get another flight…"

"Don't be absurd it's right there!" is what Asami meant to say but breathing was suddenly extremely difficult and so was coughing out those words. She pushed herself into the safety of Korra's arms. _God why was that so good?_

The hand burning calming circles between her shoulder blades was a godsend. By the 30th floor she had calmed down, hell she had damn near fallen asleep until the elevator dinged.

"Wait," Korra told her, disengaging enough to poke her head into the corridor. "Clear."

Korra stopped at the apartment.

_Asami._ An envelope taped to the door.

The bride stared at it for a good 30 seconds, Korra hated how her heart pounded as she watched her face, her green eyes shifting through her emotions, glassy, dark, stormy. She shoved the key into the door as though she was punching it. Korra didn't have time to think or even follow before Asami was stomping back out again.

"Don't you want to grab the-"

Asami doubled back and yanked the letter from its tape.

"Don't you want to read it?"

"Let's go Korra!" Asami snapped. When she got to the elevator she was shaking, curling the envelope and ticket in her furious fingers. Korra caught the closing doors and watched her tremble with rage. When Asami caught the hurt look on her companions expression she tried to calm herself.

She offered her the tickets, and held the letter with both hands. She wasn't ready but she forced herself to tear the top, only it wasn't enough to get to the contents inside, when she tore again more ferociously the face of it opened and the letters littered the elevator floor.

"Stop," Korra told her, picking up the sheets from around their feet, "Stop it." when she stood she watched the streams of tears begin to flow. Not heeding the why or what may happen she cupped the back of friend's head and tucked her back into her shoulder.

"We don't have to do this now," she told her, "I'll hold all of it for you. I'll carry it all for you." her throat closed at the feeling of Asami's long fingers curling deep into her jacket. Asami nodded and let her self relax into her, which only made Korra tighten her hold.

On the plane, first class no less, in their honeymooners booth Korra could feel the beginnings of negative behaviours brewing. The two reclining seats tucked close, separated only by an arm rest complete with (now empty) champagne flutes. Asami was asleep on the aisle seat, long legs tucked up, almost into her chest, left hand limp from where she had been cupping Korra's.

For the second time that day, Korra found herself watching her sleep. _There have to be ground rules,_ she thought, _already this has gone too far. _But already she was pulling the complimentary blanket down from the over head when she saw the hint of a shiver and tucking it around her form.

"You two look gorgeous together," The private booth wasn't as private as she once thought, as an air hostess wheeled quietly past and had whispered, "it's clear you care for her very much," she smiled down at Korra, caught in the act of pulling the blanket under over the Carmakers shoulder.

She knew the words she had to say to clear up the situation only she didn't. They caught in her throat and suddenly speaking wasn't something she knew how to do. _We're not together. _She wanted to say, _I shouldn't pretend we are. _She added, in her mind, _that will be ground rule number one._

She pursed her lips and nodded, flicking her eyes between the hostess and Asami, _she's sleeping, _they say, _let's not wake her._

The hostess smiled at her conspiratorially, winking as she handed Korra a second pillow before wheeling off. _I'm pimping my friend out for honeymoon amenities. _She berated herself, turning on her seat to stare out the window.

_Ground Rule One: No Pretending We're Together._

Asami let out a gentle whine in her sleep, scared, reaching blindly for the hand that was now missing. Korra angled herself so she could reach it, but still find interesting clouds to distract her out side the window. She stroked her thumb over the heiress' knuckles.

_Ground Rules, _she decided, _are meant for the ground._


	3. Chapter 3

"You don't have an '_ejector seat_' or a '_ripcord_' package?"

"Your honeymoon newlywed deluxe Ember Island package is still available with all the-"

"Bells and whistles, roses, balloons and _constant reminders of our failed relationship littered about throughout the GD experience, _which attracted me to the package in the first place, which made me put down the very expensive deposit but things change." Asami took a breath and a moment before she said the words, "You are looking at a Jilted bride."

The young counter clerk blinked, and found herself entirely unprepared to veer away from her set script.

"We see hundreds of guests through these packages every week," she recited, "I'm sure Honeymooners package will more than accommodate your," her eyes looked pleadingly to Korra, "needs,"

"We just need a change in the bedding situation, and _the pictures," _Korra asked mostly for herself, if she were to spend the next three weeks in a bed with the woman who made her body thrum and heart race she knew she'd never sleep. Especially if old photos of Asami and Iroh were grinning down on her.

"We're fully booked for tonight, its our busy season, even if I could move you there wouldn't be a room we could move you to…"

"Are there any changes you can make later in the 3 weeks? A note you can leave staff to make it less intrusive on my friend here?"

"Packages and schedules are set weeks in advance, if you don't like what we offer before hand a lot of people just lose the deposit rather than not go."

"_Oh you'd like that wouldn't you_," the heiress snapped.

"I'm sorry but - A lot of people don't take the Honeymoon if the wedding doesn't work out."

Korra could see the tinderbox in Asami's head spontaneously combust.

"_Oh kay, Miss_, please, if you have a manager please get them," Korra put herself between the customer service representative and her boiling friend. "Asami, there's a bar over there, get yourself a long drink,"

"She-"

"I know what she did, she's also fourteen and script-bound, deep breaths." Korra rubbed her arms encouragingly and relieved her of her carry on, tickets now nearly screwed into a ball and sunglasses which as she took them realised she'd snapped the arm. As she walked, shoulders tense, graceful legs taking long purposeful strides across the lobby floor Korra watched her go. _Ground Rules, _she thought, _time to put them in action. _

She caught the clerk mutter something along the lines of _bridezilla, _and she caught her eyes with a point.

"Hey - _thin ice_,"

The girl blushed and plucked up the phone.

Asami watched from what was too far a distance for her liking. Korra had taken the calendar and files out with the management, and the now seemingly permanent red-in-the-face hotel clerk was serving other people.

Korra and the manager poured over the calendar like generals over a war plan. Maybe that's how it seemed as she watched them through her drinks umbrella. Korra didn't seem flustered for a second but took a moment every so often to run a hand through short locks, and Asami couldn't help but admire it, her usually ice-bound friend enduring this heat with her. She hadn't realised she'd been staring until Korra shook his hand and reached over the console for the phone.

This confused her, who was she calling? Who did Korra know here? She watched her smile turn big and caught her lips say _it'll be good to see you! _Asami couldn't deny the pit that made in her stomach.

When she hung up she rolled the bags over to the bar and offered Asami her own.

"We're not staying here tonight." she told her.

"Wh-at?"

"Look the room isn't ready for us right now. I mean it is, but its whole shebang honeymoon realness so we'll be back tomorrow where they have my new and improved _best friends on a trip _twin room. Activities the same though, I don't know if you remember but each came with that hefty deposit, couples dinners, couples diving, massages etcetera but that's what I'm here for right?"

"So we're sleeping on our bags in the lobby for tonight?"

"Let me get to that. I have an aunt, sort of. Free spirit, free as a bird type. She has a villa on the south side of the island. It was a toss up if she'd even be here, but what do you know she is."

"Oh."

"It's just one night, and she owns a little tiki bar where the locals like to drink I feel like would be good for us and she has a spare room for her brothers kids we could use, and-"

"You had me at tiki," Asami stopped her with a hand up. She was a broken woman, because every time Korra showed her an iota of kindness her eyes began leaking. An easy fix was for her to press them into Korra's neck. Her friend's arm came gingerly up behind her in a tentative one armed hug. She would get to the bottom of why that was, Asami decided.

As Korra loaded bags back into a cab, Asami took a moment to scan the resort properly. They stood in an ocean of couples. In fact it was difficult to find a single standing person that wasn't dressed in red and gold, the hotel colours. The sun was setting, and the sky had taken a striking gradient; prussian blue pressing down on the setting ocre sun. The leaves of the palm trees twinkled in the breeze. It was somehow better than she imagined, as though she had stepped into this beautiful Edward Hopper painting.

Before she could imagine what it would've been like to be with Iroh here, Korra's eyes shone through her thoughts, and her hand, palm faced up ready for her to take and step down the steep curb. For the first time in as many hours she didn't feel the need for tears. Instead she pursed her lips and gazed lovingly at her friend, taking her hand and thinking only of how lucky she was to have her.

The tourist utopia fell away after about half an hour driving. Chic well maintained restaurants, rental stores and knick knack shacks fell away to normal looking houses. Normal in that they were perfect for the year round hot climate, Asami thought, and all generally new when pieces of property were laid waste to during harsh thunderstorms and the occasional tsunami.

"Thinking about the socio-economic implications of the houses outside?" Korra teased.

Asami felt flush that she'd been caught.

"Just seeing what I can learn from the architecture of Ember Island." she defended. "The real Ember Island." she corrected, "It never even occurred to me to try and see the rest of it,"

"Is that your way of thanking me for getting you out of that 5 star hotel?"

"It's my way of thanking you for getting me out of my own head."

Korra smiled at her, eyes flicking away, embarrassed, but triumph in the curve of her lips. She looked outside as well, trying to see what the Carmaker saw.

"Kya has to rebuild parts of her house every few years. Everyone does, this place is constantly changes,"

"Kya, is that who we're seeing?"

"Yes she's a family friend, aunt is just easier to say." Korra shrugged.

"It must be exhausting having to change all the time." Asami mused.

"I'd say it's exhausting trying to stay the same. Kya says it really puts things into perspective. You can't depend on the weather or a house or even where you're standing sometimes, the only thing keeping you afloat is you."

Asami watched the street lamps paint and pass a yellow glow over Korra's skin, who's eyes were now buried in the interesting things on the outside. A flurry of condos, knick knacks, netted doors, boats in driveways, cars with open tops and no intention to close.

"That's apt." Asami mused.

"Hmm?"

"I feel like I'm learning to swim again." The heiress smiled sadly.

"Maybe you are," Korra turn to face her again, smart smirk playing on her lips, "I can be your floaties,"

"You're so corny Korra."

Asami laughed at her. Hand grabbing hers over the seat, Korra stiffened and held her breath until she let go.

"Only for you," she confessed on the breath out, but disguised the truth of it with a wink and a flash of a tight smile.

Kya was waiting on her porch for them, the older woman wrapped in a shawl and grinning at them as they pulled up.

She could've been Korra's aunt, Asami mused, from a distance. Close up Kya's skin was lighter, her eyes not as deep a blue. Korra's smile was crooked, and Kya's big and warm. She had but a moment to observe before Korra collided with her.

Asami stood the shadow in the corner, watching Korra's back relax as Kya rubbed it, frowning when she noticed how tense it had been. It was then she realised she was staring, and felt intrusive. She started pulling the cases from the cab as the old friends asked the usual questions.

"How long has it been? You're-well I can't say you're taller but your hair is different." Kya ruffled it as they parted and looked her up and down, "Your gait is better, your mom said you've been running like you used to."

"For all intents and purposes I'm fully healed… Five years I think,"

"And you've got the studio up and running?"

"Finished a commission right before we left - for um…a wedding." She couldn't help the awkward look her face pulled and Kya pressed her lips into a line. It was then Kya finally took note of Asami, balancing their bags onto one set of wheels and pulling them up the path.

Korra jumped up to catch them but remarkably as Asami set them down they didn't move. Korra inspected the tower with wide eyes and ready hands when Asami patted her shoulders and explained.

"Physics darling,"

"Or jenga," Korra countered reaching for the carry-one used to cement the two bags.

"Hey!" Asami snatched at her hand before remembering her manners, "Hello!" she waved to Kya, stood right in front of her.

"You must be Asami,"

"I must be!" Asami said, going in for the handshake but being surprised by a hug. _Oh God don't cry. _Asami thought. Looking over Kya's shoulder the door to the villa opened to a woman, tall, late forties, salt and pepper locks doing nothing to age her. Green eyes searching for the woman in Asami's arms.

"Kya honey the bar is out of olives,"

Kya let her go and took the jar from her and the two shared a kiss.

"You brought the jar out here because?"

"Evidence," Kya looked at her like she was the most adorable thing in the world. The jar-holder took in their guests, "I think we broke your young friends."

Korra and Asami were stood gazing at them unblinkingly, and it took a few seconds for their brains to catch up with what they had just seen.

"You've seen gay people before right? Korra?"

Korra and Asami spoke at the same time.

"_It's beautiful!"_

_"You guys look incredibly snazzy." _

Kya grinned as she watched them squirm, especially Korra face reddening, and subtly turning her body away from the one she was clearly attracted to.

"Snazzy?" Kya teased.

_It's everything I want. _Korra thought, and desperately tried to keep it off her face.

"I'd like to be taken off the hook please?" She extended a hand to Kya's companion, "Hi I'm Korra - Human Disaster."

_"_Kana, Kya showed me your baby pictures the minute you called." Once again Korra's face dropped.

"Asami," the heiress extended her hand and Kana took it, "and I'd like to see those baby pictures,"

"Alcohol please." Korra said, "Kya,"

"Right away baby," the older woman took her by her shoulders and pushed her to Kana.

"Olives?"

"Take the jar from the fridge," Kya turned to Asami, "Come on Jenga," reaching for bags.

The warmth in her gaze possessed Asami, that and walking through the idillic island house that was perfect in every corner. Kya had been around the world ten times over and it showed, every surface had a story, every picture a new person. When she got to the room the photos showed family, a troupe of children growing through the ages. Korra gap toothed and giggling as Kya's nieces sprayed her with sea water. A bald man set upon by rowdy children and even rowdier adults, his brother holding one ear, Korra the other.

"She was so relaxed in those days." Kya mused, breaking Asami from her trance, "Now, for so long, it feels like she's been holding her breath."

"I feel it too." Asami admitted, "I want to get her to talk to me."

Kya regarded her for another moment, and Asami wondered if she'd have to state her intentions under the scrutiny.

"I'm sure she will. This place will do that to you."

Before Asami could gauge what she meant she had been taken by the wrist and was being led out. The back of the house was directly on the beach, and a small path of footprints led them to the bar which Kya owned.

It was a platform, a stage, where the audience was the sea. With shining planks of palm wood underfoot and stools and tables along the bar front and sides to keep the centre free and clear for dancing, a dozen or so people already on the floor. Korra was at a table, navigating the accoutrements of umbrellas, straws and sparkly paper that topped her piña colada. Kana was sipping hers gleefully before standing to greet her partner with a kiss to her cheek. Korra stood as well, but as she did she forgot why. Asami hugged her anyway.

"I got you one too," she pushed the drink towards the heiress on the table who took a sip and smiled.

"On the house all night you guys," Kya clapped her hand between Korra's shoulder blades and she winced.

"Kya, it's fine really it's your business,"

"My business is to take care of you and your friend, you've had a long journey and now it's time to relax," Kya put her arms around both of them and squeezed. "In fact Kuv!"

She yelled over to the waitress, dark, tall, handsome, on the bar cutting ice with a mallet and saw, who arched a brow at being disturbed.

"All night - free - these guys." she reiterated, and the woman rolled her eyes. "Kuvira will take care of you, oh and by the way - _single," _Korra coughed into her drink and turned beet red. She may have told Kya and Asami that she was Bi, but acting on it in front of A family and B Asami, was something she never hoped to face. Kya went on, "She too takes ice very seriously, she studied under the great Hidetsugu Ueno himself."

Korra nodded, impressed, trying to retain her cool. She was dying to look at Asami to see her reaction, but when the moment came, she was utterly unreadable.

"He's a bar guy," Korra explained.

"Yeah Korra, I got that from context," Asami teased, winking. Eventually she realised her drink was empty, and so was Korra's, but something told her she didn't want her friend to try her chances with the bar-maid just yet.

When she bounced her eyes away from Korra she looked enviously at the dance floor. "I could use a dance where I don't fall off a table. Korra would you help me."

"I don't think I'm drunk enough yet to…"

But Asami already had her by the hand and she barely had time to put down her drink. She could have sworn Kya was applauding and whooping after them.

Asami knew Korra had a rule at parties, no matter what the song - work it, because otherwise whats the point? But she was finding it difficult to move in that moment, so the heiress put her lips to her ear and said,

"Why are you waiting for a better song to come when you could be having fun?"

"Maybe one that's less corny." Korra smiled despite herself. Finding her rhythm, her hips and her feet, she pulled her plaid shirt below her shoulders, revealing the exquisite muscular structure held only by her vest, singing into the music that swallowed the sound.

_I wanna feel the _heat! _With somebody! _

She spun with Asami on her arm, and the heiress singing with her.

_Yeah I wanna dance with somebody!_

_With somebody who loves me!_

With that Korra stopped, head spinning, she motioned that she wanted to find a drink and went to the bar.

"Water, ice, please."

"You're getting free drinks all night and you ask for Water?"

"I would've thought a Ueno student would understand the importance of H20, I'm offended."

"Kya told you about the Ice Master?"

"She did," Korra held her hand out, but not for the glass but the cube of apple sized ice in Kuvira's hand, "But I knew from the knife."

Sceptical Kuvira handed the knife and block to her, and the waitress watched as Korra carved the base, rounded it, and tapered slices inside. When she was done, the ice rose bulb balanced in her palm, which she then placed in the glass of water she had waiting for her.

"Holy shit. You're too good to be bar staff."

"I'm an ice sculptor actually. I spend my days in a huge freezer and a t shirt."

"This must be hell on earth for you then."

"Every second I'm dying yes." Korra confirmed. Kuvira regarded her for a second, green eyes flicking out onto the dance floor, where Asami was getting lessons from Kya and Kana and learning how to laugh again. She took a pen from her apron and turned Korra's wrist.

"If you want to be shown the best way to cool down here, give this number a call."

"Oh," Korra said, mind running a mile a minute. She was here for Asami, _with Asami, _but those ground rules. _No Pretending… _She didn't have to here. It was illogical to feel this way about someone she'd A just met and someone else who B wasn't even interested in her that way, but it still felt like a betrayal.

"When you get finished being a honeymoon replacement of course," Kuvira winked, and Korra swallowed, mouth dry. She took a sip from the glass, only to cough.

"Is that _vodka_?"

"Ordering water on a free bar is offensive to me."

Korra sighed closing her eyes, before downing the drink.

The night passed in a flurry of dancing, drinking, getting eye-fucked by the bar maid and pulled from wall to wall from her heart strings by Asami. Korra was walking a fine line, and doing it drunk, wanting to touch her, to be close, knowing nothing could ever come of it.

She couldn't explain how by the end of the night, she lay across the bar, her head in Asami's lap. The heiress had one hand stroking through her short brown locks, the other thumbing the numbers on her wrist.

"You gonna call her?" Asami asked.

"I don't know," Korra slurred, "There's someone else. But there isn't." she smiled, eyes closed, seemingly floating wherever she was.

"You never talk about this with me." Asami pressed, "I'm here for you Korra. I'm always here."

"Maybe I can't be like that." Korra mumbled "Maybe I is broken."

Asami sighed, looking down at her drunk friend, _this isn't the way, _she thought.

"Let's get you to bed."

XXX

The spinning room woke Korra at 3am. She was in a twin bed, missing her shoes, when she sat up. The silence broken from the other sleeper in the room, or rather, not. Asami was sniffling quietly to herself on the 2nd twin under the window.

"Asami?" she mumbled, voice hoarse from singing. No reply, just more sniffling, "Asami what's wrong?"

"Go to sleep." Korra heard her whisper. She got out of bed and kneeled by hers, hand touching her arm.

"Asami, look at me," Korra turned her gently, and her cheeks were lit only from the streaks of tears.

"I can't stop," Asami told her, hand gripping her wrist tentatively.

Korra acted, again thinking only of her friend, and got in the bed so Asami could cling to her. She hoped she wouldn't notice how fast her heart beat when she did this, but another part of her did, and realised what it meant.


	4. Chapter 4

The cocoon of Korra's arms. Asami liked thinking it. It was onomatopoeiacly pleasing. Half awake, somehow enjoying it enough to resist sleep she swept her cheek against the soft of Korra's skin. Were she more aware she would be grateful the sculptor was still sound in slumber, chin still resting over the crown of Asami's head.

The heiress took stock of her own hands in that moment, one was numb, her upper arm having the circulation restricted by Korra's ribs, the other she noted was touching skin, fingertips playing on the curve of the ice sculptor's spine.

Korra stretched, lithe body arching into the heiress', making Asami's fingers drag a path up the dips and curves of Korra's muscular back.

"'Sami stop," she muttered grinning. It was important to note however that Korra was still asleep. Asami froze, heart pounding, as Korra adjusted hold, this time repaying the favour and burying her face in Asami's neck. "_Five more minutes," _

Asami had a choice it seemed, wake Korra now and feel total mutual embarrassment, they'd laugh about how foolish it all was, and yet. It was only five minutes. _This is crazy. _She began to pull her arm, only Korra's sigh stopped her, and then she was looking down on her sleeping face. Black hair cocooning them against the morning sun. _God that pout. _It felt like a lifetime since she'd seen it. Before she knew it she was stroking from temple to cheek with the soft blade of her finger, and after that her thumb traced the shape of her brow. _Stop. You should stop. _

She couldn't explain it, but somehow she was possessed, staring at her friend, stroking her face, right until her thumb traced her lower lip. An inch too far. Korra's open eyes stopped her dead.

No longer groggy, sea blue eyes clear, entire body suddenly rigid.

"Korra, Asami- oh sorry,"a sing song voice rang out from outside. The bedroom door had begun to open and shut almost immediately when Kya spotted the two, or rather, entangled legs, "Just came up to tell you breakfast is almost ready. But I'll leave you to it."

Neither blinked as the moment stretched, Asami's heart beating so hard and fast she couldn't tell that Korra's was racing to match.

The heiress broke the connection when she turned to sit up, scooping the hair that had protected them for that moment behind her ears.

"We'll be out in a minute, Kya." she called after their host not daring to look at Korra. "Thank you for last night I um…" she trailed off clutching the edge of the mattress, "Thanks," in the next second she was behind the bathroom door.

And Korra was in bed, alone, wondering what the hell had just happened, and why it felt like paradise had been snatched away from her. When she found her legs she stood, clutching the pillow that she now realised had been Asami's. She let it go before knocking on the door.

"Are… are you ok? Asami,"

"I'm fine I'm- go get breakfast they're waiting," Korra could hear running water switch on, "I'll be out in a minute,"

Korra waited by the door for a moment, deliberating how strange it would be now if she waited for her, and if that was stranger than what had just happened.

"I'll see you down there." she decided she needed counselling. Taking a minute to change her shirt, tie her short hair in a knot and get her mind right.

She found Kana and Kya huddled conspiratorially over the kitchen island. When they saw Korra, Kya clapped her hands together over her grin,

"_No- _no," Korra pointed, "we are not- anything!"

Kya bit her lower lip as her eyes glittered with understanding, "But you want to be?"

"I-" _no pretending, _"she was crying. I couldn't leave her."

"But she was _on top of you,_" Kana reasoned, clearly as excited as her partner who had evidently told her everything.

"I don't know what happened," Korra admitted, "Don't say anything just…let me talk to her when she's ready,"

"Her feet were rubbing yours,"

"Kana!" Kya scolded.

"Did you tell her everything!"

"I just want you crazy kids to get together,"

"I shared a moment with my _best friend," _she snapped, _"_that's all we are _best friends. _This is her would be honeymoon so she's a mess. She doesn't need me making it harder than it already is."

Kana sighed, and muttered "Straight people,"

"I know baby," Kya rubbed between Kana's shoulder blades and kissed her temple.

Korra looked away before sitting at the island, adorned with lovingly peeled and chopped fruits, gleaming alongside piles of pancakes, eggs, bacon and a flagon of syrup.

When Asami came down she greeted her hosts quietly and sat beside Korra, close enough so she wouldn't have to look at her, far enough away so the riot in her mind would quiet down.

Korra still noticed the way she tucked her hair behind both ears, _god she's adorable._

"Korra?" she was drawn out of her haze when Asami said her name, her green eyes flicked to the jug in her hands, "You might want to slow down on the syrup."

She'd been caught, and her brain had short circuited the minute Asami's hand had brushed her leg by accident five seconds ago. When she yanked her own hand upright she saw the gooey golden mess she'd made.

"What? I like sugar," she recovered, poorly, glad her dark skin hid blushes as she pulled it close and started to eat.

Kya popped a grape in her mouth to keep from making a snarky revealing comment.

"What's that on your arm Korra?" Kana asked.

"Nothing," Korra inspected at her left when Kana grabbed and showed her the right. "Oh,"

The pen was smudged but still legible.

"Whose number is that?" Kana asked.

"Kuvira's," Asami and Korra spoke at the same time. Kya's mouth dropped open as her partner congratulated her.

"Go Korra! Deets, I need deets -_ did you french her?"_

"What? No! You guys were with me all night! Nothing happened,"

"But she likes you," Kya added, leaning on the island, eyes flicking between the two girls at her table "that's impressive."

"Are you gonna call her?" Kana pressed.

"I-that's neither here - I don't- there's a lot to- I'm here for Asami - to _support _Asami," Korra floundered.

"You should ask her out." Asami's voice broke her fractured stream of consciousness speaking,

Korra froze and felt the wave of her heart breaking flood in every part of her at those words and all those that followed.

"You don't have to spend this whole vacation with me. I can handle a night by myself. Korra, you should enjoy yourself."

The ice sculptor was at a loss for words as Asami smiled at her, squeezed her hand and added.

"Now eat your sugar."

"Thanks," Korra found her perfect practiced fake smile, mouth wide, teeth showing, heart crumbling. She thought about kissing her that morning the second she woke up. _Coward._

Little did she know, Asami was thinking the same. She had to stop herself from looking, from becoming once again mesmerised in the mouth of her best friend. _This is just loneliness. _She berated herself, _Korra doesn't deserve this._

Her loss was acute, and these feelings were irrational, she was reaching out for a body, someone to touch her again, and Korra was already there. That's it. That's all it was. That's all it could be.

The print on her thumb from Korra's lips still burned in her senses. She couldn't shake the fantasy of her body entangled with hers flashing behind closed eyes.

She was so frazzled she blew on the watermelon on her fork before taking a bite of it.

Kya watched the two hopeless young women at her table, smirking into her coffee, she shared a look with Kana and winked at her.

"So what are the activities you've got planned back at the hotel? Korra mentioned something about a lot of non-refundable deposits?"

Asami teeth snapped together and eyebrows raised, grinning uncomfortably and basking in the awkward glow.

"Yeah, uh diving, massages, whole nine yards. There's a dinner, dinner theatre, a guided hike up Mt Makapu, capped off with sailing on a private boat as a finale,"

"Couples right? Korra's filling in for uh," Kana pressed,

"The deadbeat?" Asami responded quickly "Yeah, she's being an excellent best friend." She reached blindly for her and ended up grabbing her hand gratefully, "She's really rescuing me."

"Anything for you," Korra told her, squeezing her fingers before letting go "and a free vacay," she shrugged, wincing, "and I've had this crick in my neck for _months_,"

Asami pushed her, finally finding her laugh.

"I'm not sure diving instructors see much wildlife on that side of the island anymore," Kana mused, "too many tourists scaring them away,"

"Oh Sorry," Asami balked.

"Oh they're not gone, people are just looking in the wrong place." Kya affirmed, "We've found some pockets here and there, I could draw you guys a map."

"That would be nice," Asami smiled at her warmly, ears heating up for a different reason. She'd been a person on this planet for twenty five years, why could simple acts of kindness like this throw her through such bizarre emotional loops.

"But I don't want you sharing it with any of those yuppies up the hill," Kya pointed, "The lord of Water commanded me to keep it secret."

Asami and Korra crossed their hearts, before catching each other and sharing the thrill and glee of such an odd moment.

"There's also a lot of free time for whatever we want," Asami added, "I watched Korra pack at least 10 pairs of board shorts, I can't wait if she's actually as good as she thinks she is."

"I'm offended Asami, maybe I wont be so helpful when you're begging me to teach you to stand up,"

"I'm just saying, seeing is believing," Asami jibed.

"Korra didn't mention the medals she left here?" Kya chimed in, "or the photos?" Taking a seashell frame from the windowsill. "Presenting under 12's Ember Island champion,"

"Oh my god," Asami took the frame and marvelled in its nostalgic glory, Korra was soaked, bony shoulders loosely covered by a white surf rash shirt. She had big buck adult milk teeth in her goofy smile, holding for the camera the gold medallion tied to the ribbon on her neck. Tiny surfer embossed on the metal. "Korra you never talk about this!"

"Little did I know I was four years from losing the ability to walk or surf or run-"

"Which you got back in record time." Kya reminded.

"You're a serious bad ass Korra," Asami breathed, "I just thought you were a hobbyist."

"I just need to get my groove back." Korra admitted, "I was hoping to see if I could swim between the islands, maybe do the whole archipelago."

"Pretty ballsy for someone who used to be a-scared of the volcano," Kya teased.

"I'm sorry Volcano?" Asami asked.

"Mt Makapu," Kya explained, "She's been dormant now for 100 years, but Korra used to have nightmares of a fiery death!" Kya splayed her fingers like an evil creature and Korra swatted at her defensively.

"Not funny Kya, I'm still not over that time you put a smoke machine in my bedroom."

"Aw, I'll keep you safe," Asami without thinking started rubbing between her shoulder blades comfortingly only Korra tensed, "I'll get you a… gas mask?"

"A helicopter would work better," Korra muttered.

"I'll see what I can do." Asami winked at her, allowing herself one last rub of that incredible back of hers. Before returning to her breakfast she caught in Korra's gaze once more, this time unreadable, stoic, studying every inch of her own face.

When Korra gave up on her sugar pile she made a decision staring at her reflection of the maple.

"Kya can I borrow your phone?"

The older woman studied her shrewdly for a second, trying her best to give nothing away when she glanced at the heiress beside the ice sculptor.

"Sure through there."

Korra excused herself.

Asami wanted her to go, Asami who had touched her back lingeringly minutes ago, and caressed her face this morning. The intensity of that moment still churned in her chest, winding her internal organs impossibly tighter than they had ever been before. Perhaps that was why, Korra mused, she'd gotten too close, now Asami was shoving her elsewhere.

_Kuvira seemed fun, _she thought picking up the receiver, _in the way sky diving without a parachute seemed fun._

She thought back to last night, the flirting, the remarkable way Korra actually held her cool, and the lustful way Kuvira looked at her. At least she wanted her, and Korra knew at some point she'd need a break from this head fuck.

_"You're though to Kuvira," _the voice on the other line was somehow intimidating.

"Hi i-its Korra."

_"Hey it's H20, so I guess this means you've thought about my offer…or forgotten who's number this was…"_

"No I knew, I just wanted to see if you'd squirm."

"_Minx."_

"Next you'll be telling me I've got moxy."

_"Shut up, so you wanna go out or what?"_

"Tonight." Korra confirmed.

_"Your jailer let you out this early huh?"_

"Sh-e said, she said she'd be fine."

_"Huh, I guess thats a date then, meet me at the bar at nine." _

"Really? Just like that."

_"Just like that, but only because you stammered cutie."_

The line went dead, and Korra held the phone and wondered if she'd made a mistake. All she felt in her heart was conflict, more specifically that one part was tied to a woman in the next room. But then again, she was only here for a short while and Kuvira knew that, there was no other pressure than to live in the moment and have fun, and not spend her time agonising about love lorn improbable futures. She was on vacation after all.


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you want me to get you some leggings?" Asami asked earnestly, having seen the beach-side spa deck for the first time and all the partially nude couples enjoying their honeymoon massages together.

"It's fine, they're healed it's ok."

"I just want you to be comfortable," Asami told her, hand cupping the arm of the gleaming white robe that was covering Korra's partially nude body.

"I'm not sure I'd ever be all that comfortable with a stranger touching me," Korra didn't mean to snap, but being reminded of her scars, on top of this entire calamitous honeymoon-replacement situation, put her on the edge of the finest razor blade Ember Island had to offer. She also had to admit seeing that volcano on the horizon still set her teeth on edge too.

"We can cancel." Asami offered, eyes dimming with the hurt Korra knew she'd inflicted.

"No it's- I'm sorry. I'm being a brat. I'm not used to _pampering._ I need to loosen up. This could help."

Asami smiled at her gratefully for trying.

"Sato?" The masseuse called them, and Korra waved before standing and leading Asami on.

Their guide was an older man in his late fifties, bald with a nose piercing, skin turned leather after decades in a climate he was not used to.

"You've had a very stressful week!" he told them matter of factly.

"Did management tell you about our…" Asami paused, not at a loss for words but a knowledge that she had put Korra and her together immediately, naturally, "Situation?"

"It's written all over your faces, tension, _tension, tension!" _he declared poking Korra between her eyebrows. "You two look like you might need more than massages, tell me how do you feel about acupuncture?"

"No needles please!" Korra squeaked, immediately losing colour.

"Well we'll just need to maximise the relaxation levels in this zone,"

The deck they were stood on was beach side, with sandalwood structures holding curtains that, if needed, could shield them from the outside world. With a tug of a string the old man pulled all four sides down.

"I'll give you a minute to get settled on your fronts," he swept an arm over the tables with towels over it, "and I'll grab my partner for the side by side massage. I will be your server today - Aiwei,"

He left in a flurry of sheets and suddenly the pair were once again alone in near darkness. They shared a look, that at once gave them a sense of a pull dragging them closer and a solemn air keeping them stapled where they stood.

Wordlessly they stepped between the beds and shed robes. Strongly aware that the woman next to them was now nude to the waist and desperate to see the beauty beside them. Korra's bed creaked first, hastily yanking the towel over her hips and looking away from the heiress beside her.

"You're slipping." Asami told her as she grabbed the towel on the small of her back, pulling it back into place for her.

Korra didn't know if it was better or worse that she had chosen to turn her head the opposite direction of where Asami was laying, so close beside her. She pondered the same conundrum as her fingers continued to linger on her back, drawing gently upwards, sweeping a patterns over her spine. Korra's toes were curling as she did this, and without thinking she crossed her legs as tightly as she could to prevent a whimper from coming out her lips. Suddenly the Carmaker's fingers pressed harder, rubbing a circle between the shoulder blades of her counterpart, undoing the knot she found there.

"Asami-?"

"Now you're used to it." she explained in a quiet breath, rescinding her hand as the curtains' wings beat and their masseuses set about lighting candles and incense.

"Any allergies we should know about moving forward?" Aiwei asked well and truly shattering the moment and all the thoughts that followed.

"Korra's allergic to nuts and penicillin." Asami told him matter of factly, Korra wanted to share a look with her only to find she was already facing the other way.

"There are no nuts or penicillin in my creams so you're golden." he told them.

It was a strange feeling watch another woman touch Asami's hair and tuck it in front of one shoulder. Their eyes met as she did this and shared a friendly smile, noticing that Korra was watching the young woman shared the same with her. Her hands began to work, painting that alabaster skin with lavender and peach flavoured salve. The aroma was intoxicating, and Korra didn't mind when Aiwei began his own ministrations on her shoulders.

"You two make such a lovely couple," she told them sweetly.

By this point _No pretending _had become a knee jerk reaction for Korra.

"We're not together." she caught the difference in the tension of Asami's body after she said this, "We're just here to have a good time." Korra added, watching that same tension ebb.

Korra had to admit, she was actually feeling like she was relaxed, she closed her eyes, lost her self in the calm ocean sounds, and let the man with the magic hands distract her into oblivion. That was until he touched her legs, she flinched, she couldn't help it, he was folding the towel up to better reach her fascia muscles, and Korra knew he could see the scars there.

It was a moment before she realised she had reached for blindly and grabbed Asami's hand. Asami squeezed back, hard, _I'm here._

The Carmaker had turned her head back, eyes sending silent comforts to her in the candlelight.

"Let your partner soothe you." Aiwei instructed, "There are no problems here,"

Asami's thumb rubbed calming circles over hers. Her hair covered her mouth, but Korra could tell from her eyes she was smiling at her. When the smile faded that's when time stopped, her eyes were clear and deep, and Korra got lost in another mind. For just that sheltered, calm, eclipse of a moment she saw proof of everything she had ever felt for this beautiful soul was reflected back.

Until of course Asami reached over and covered her eyes and closing them.

"_Relax_," she urged in a raspy whisper, before reaching once more between them and entangling their fingers once more.

_Impossible. _Korra thought back, her heart was kicking into overdrive for the thousandth time in as many days.

Which why she was surprised that she passed out so quickly on the table. They were alone again when she was awakened, namely by Asami's fingers combing through her locks. Her body had turned to butter, she had been taken so far down into bliss she didn't even react to the sensation, just took it. Marvelling at how each scratch of her scalp sent shockwaves tingling through her to her toes.

"Thank you for doing that." Asami told her, eyes watery, "I couldn't be here without you." she leaned up, hands still in her hair, and pressed her lips soothingly to her forehead. As quick as it all happened she was gone.

When Korra's brain could put two synapses together she tried to lift herself, only the loosened muscle in her arms betrayed her and she fell back onto that bed.

"Dammit…" _what is she doing to me?_

XXX

Asami stood under the stream of the shower touching her lips. She knew there was no point before a diving lesson, but she needed cold water, fast. How did she wind up doing most of the touching in that couples massage, she wondered. It was Korra's back, she deduced, the way it writhed under her fingers, the way her anatomy danced for her, and loosened under her touch.

Her skin had been so soft, so unbelievably _smooth, _had Iroh's skin felt that good? That wasn't fair, she thought, Korra was on an entirely new level. _Everyone has gay thoughts, _she told herself, _doesn't have to mean anything, _she added. _How long had it been like this? _she wondered. Objectively Korra was, and still is, a smoke show. Asami had often thought she was as skilled at shaping her body as she was at carving ice figures.

Her best features were her eyes, she knew this without even having to think about it. That pale blue stare had been so inexplicably powerful in the spa, Asami felt herself being emptied of everything in a single moment, and filled in her mind with only the woman across from her. Like her memories were being played through another lens.

The way she used to watch Korra work, the way her arms shook with the force of chiselling away chunks of ice. The way her eyes used to hone in on the way her collarbones peaked out her shirt, especially when Asami made her laugh.

The last time Asami had been at the beach with Korra, they were in a group but, neither went into the sea. Content to lay in the sand and watch her sleep peacefully. After many months of pain filled sleepless nights post-accident, that first look of peace was something Asami would always cherish. Korra's hair was long then, she remembered, she wore a blue vest, and fell asleep with her fingers clutching the sand. Asami never wondered why she wanted to brush the stray locks from her face as she slept, not even as she did it.

Now her mind was filled with new memories, mounting Korra in the back of a limo in a drunken haze, feeling the thrill of her warm hands seared into the memory of her spine. She couldn't shake the scent of her bed, the scent of Korra enveloping her that morning. Korra had slept on the couch in the next room, but what if she hadn't? What if Asami had made the mistakes she now wanted to make? She had come so close this morning, and Korra, not for one second, had ever pushed her away.

This cold water was defective. She heard Korra close the hotel-room door out side, listened as her footsteps padded around the room, changing into her swimwear. She didn't move as she saw it in her minds' eye, as she watched without watching.

_No, _she stopped herself, _You are heartbroken, emphasis on the broken, _she was reminded. _I can't stop her from living her best life while she's here. She can no longer be my crutch. _She stopped the stream and grabbed a towel, _this shall be my new rule. _

She looked herself in the mirror and tried to school her features; to stop pursing her lips; mentally preparing herself to bounce her eyes rather than look into Korra's blues. She felt that intensity wash over her once more and dropped her face into her hands.

"You will _stop _having fantasies about your _best friend!" _she said it out loud.

"You ok in there 'Sami?" Korra asked.

"_Shit_," she seethed, "Just washing that cream off before we got in the sea."

She towelled off, slipping into her waiting bathing suit and tying her hair into a quick ponytail. _Take a deep breath, _she gripped the door handle, _look at her like an asexual amorphous blob. _She pushed through, only to take a single step before seeing Korra. _The six pack, I forgot about that. _

Her eyes drew up the ice sculptor slowly, who luckily wasn't paying attention as she pinned her short locks behind her head, before tying the knot of her blue, _of course_, board shorts.

"This is all we need right?" Korra broke her concentration, "I didn't bring goggles or anything."

She was looking at her, _oh god, _why was she looking at her? Asami felt her brain switch on.

"They have the gear yes." she confirmed. She thought for a moment, and then risked receiving potentially upsetting news, "When do we have to be back?"

"Kuvira said Kya's bar at 9 so back here for 8? Is that ok?"

_God no! _A small indignant part of her screamed. Maybe she didn't want to be alone, maybe that was it and nothing else, although in that moment it really didn't feel like it.

"Sure." Asami said instead.

"What are you going to do?"

"I-" Asami started, the answer shocked herself, but given she was alone and feeling a semblance over her ex, she continued, "I want to read the letter."

"Are you sure?"

"I think I'm ready to know what he has to say."

Korra nodded soberly, before moving to her suitcase and pulling the partially shredded envelope out. She placed it next to the hibiscus flowers on the drawer.

"Ready to go?" Korra asked.

"Let's go meet some fish." Asami found her smile as she offered an elbow, friendly as can be, and Korra took it, amicable as you like.


	6. Chapter 6

Kana was right it seemed, only small fry came to see them, the only surprises came from the beginning of the tour, when aqua pigs paddled and swum in the shallows calm and unfazed.

This did give Asami time, however, to watch her companion at work underwater. Even after her accident Korra still managed to be a faster swimmer, at least that's what Korra told herself as she lagged behind.

They swam from one island to the next, where the hotel had a small barbecue set up for hungry swimming guests. Korra showed her how they cooked ceviche with lemon, and ordered poi. They sat on stools grounded in the sand at a bar, eating with their hands with scuba tanks on their backs. Smiling and feeling free in the tropic sun. Asami had to stop herself from reaching over and touching her hands, the structure under glistening gems of water, fascinated her, so instead saved herself many a time by taking chunks of fish from her plate.

Asami knew she was the only person Korra let steal food from her, Kuvira could take that up her pipe and smoke it. She remembered the way those eyebrows glared at them from across the dance floor, she couldn't get Korra far away enough.

"Asami?"

"Hmm?"

"You were gone there." Korra tilted her head. She had balanced her goggles on her forehead which was adorable as it made strands of loose hair stick up and frame them like bangs.

"Just trying to remember last night. What drew you to Kuvira?"

"Oh uh, I dunno she seemed nice, she likes ice,"

"Huh, is that all it takes to win your heart? Nice and ice?"

"It's just a first date, a vacation date, it probably wont mean anything in the long term."

"And in the short term?" Asami pressed, dreading the answer. Korra's eyes went wide and lips pursed, "Oh come on Korra, you can say sex."

"I don't know! I'm not comfortable with this."

"With me?"

"With anyone, I don't talk about this." By anyone, she meant Asami. Korra had very few secrets close to her chest, but she kept this card sealed against her skin. She wouldn't tell Asami about her sex life, and she prayed that Asami would never tell her what Iroh was like in bed. It had worked out mutually so far.

"But you've slept with people. Mako, other women right?"

"One night stands mostly. Two nights tops." Korra admitted.

"You had that one girl calling you for weeks and you wouldn't give her the time of day."

"I'm still embarrassed about that okay?" Korra closed her eyes and tried to ignore the litany of memories that came coupled with _that girl, _she wasn't special and that was the truth of it. Korra never had a problem finding someone, but it was finding someone to replace the girl in front of her, so one night she pretended, easy enough to accomplish in the dark, and when the morning came around, the sun shone down on a singularly tremendous mistake. There was no replacing her, even in pretense.

"You must have done something right." Asami mused, sipping her lemonade, "Don't get me wrong you are," she let out a shaky breath, "attractive, but I've never called a one night stand back after because they were _gorgeous _to me all night."

"So you think I'm gorgeous huh?" Korra deflected expertly, feeling her own stomach drop when she realised it came painfully close to flirting. Grin freezing it felt like an eternity, but probably wasn't before Asami jibed back,

"Shut up you know what I meant."

"Pot. Kettle." Korra muttered gesturing to Asami's whole body.

"What did you do to her?" Asami asked, tilting her head as her friend shrank under her gaze.

"Seven." Korra told her sipping her drink.

"Seven what -oh, Oh!" She grabbed her arm, feeling a tightness in her lower half as she gripped sculptors' muscle, "In one night!"

"In one uh…session."

"Holy shit I'm lucky- I _was _lucky if I got _one."_

"It's different with women okay that's the goal."

"What the _hole_?"

Korra snorted into her drink.

"I am not explaining this to you, come on, get in the water."

"Oh Korra but I need tips!" Asami called after her, "Just the tip."

Korra flipped her off before jumping off the deck into the sea.

"Lucky girl." Asami whispered to nobody before following her.

They made it about half way before Asami managed to catch up to Korra and grab her ankle. She squealed with delight under the water and wrestled with her until neither knew which way was up. Korra took out her mouth piece and watched the bubbles rise past her cheek, before taking Asami's hand and guiding her up after them.

Asami ripped off her googles and mask when they reached the air, not because she no longer needed them. She wanted to see this for herself, two islands either side of them, Korra holding her by the elbows, her own goggles tangled in her fingers. Asami looked at her then and affirmed what she already knew. She wanted to kiss her best friend.

"Look look _look," _Korra pointed, deep below them in the crystal, a black diamond flying beneath them, "Manta ray!"

"Kya was right they're not all gone."

Asami was treading water, her eyes following the dark mysterious creature swim headlong for the mountain in the distance. A plume of purple smoke floating from its mouth.

"Holy shit is that-!" Asami held on tighter to Korra who told her.

"No, Asami it's a ritual. The islanders light a fire up there from time to time, pray for another dormant year. Plus it freaks out the tourists so we all get a good laugh out of it."

"How often did you come here as a kid?"

"Often enough." Korra told her, she looked up at the sun in the sky, "We should get going or I'll be late."

"You-!" Asami snapped following her gaze upwards, "You could not tell that from the sun in the sky!"

"I just did!"

"What are you _Korra-dile Dundee_?"

Korra winked at her before putting on her goggles and mouthpiece and diving back into the surf.

Asami had no choice but to make the best of this and follow, taking her sweet time to never pass Korra, who occasionally would wait there for her suspended in the water, sunlight dancing in a net over her beautiful skin.

Asami listened to Korra in the shower, holding the letter unread in her hands. Awash with the memories of the day, it was exhausting to contemplate there being anything left to do.

This was once her life, she mused, looking down at Iroh's once treasured handwriting, this was supposed to be everything and yet…

The shower stopped, and once again she was imagining the woman behind the wall, what it might be like to step into that room right then. She heard the hum of the hairdryer, Korra wouldn't be long with hair that short. It suited her so.

That second she knew she was making a mistake, letting her go could prove earth shattering, but she had said herself to go. What about her last breakup had made her into such a toxic person? Was it even a breakup if none of the words had actually been said?

She was so confused and yet so sure. She had to come clean to her best friend about her feelings, and maybe together Korra could let her down easy, and she wouldn't spend the night with Kuvira but instead just talking to her. Right away Asami knew that was unfair.

The hair dryer stopped.

Asami's eyes darted around the room for anything, a sign of how to move or handle this. Hibiscus flowers, blue and red shone together in a vase on the chest of drawers. Asami went over to them, and picked the blue.

_She loves me, she loves me not._

Korra was out now, wearing a blue sarong and fussing over the sash balanced on her shoulder and white crop top,

"Do I look stupid? Like I'm trying too hard."

Heart in Asami's throat she shook her head.

_She loves me. _She started to walk towards her.

"Here," She offered the flower, and combed her fingers in the side of Korra's soft hair, pinning it with a bobby pin from her own, and balancing the flower inside its teeth. When she was done her hand adorned her left cheek, and before she knew it her lips her right.

_She loves me not._

"Perfection." she told her. Hastily putting space between them. She watched Korra catch her breath and blink, hard.

"Thanks," She breathed, "I'll see you tonight?"

"I might be asleep I don't know yet." Asami mused with a sad smile.

"I can be here if you want company to read the letter."

"It's fine. Korra. Go have fun." she waved her off half-heartedly, "even if I'm crying here alone, it's better you have fun with Kuvira. You've earned it."

Korra regarded her for a moment before marching over to her and hugging her tight. Asami relaxed into it easily. Doing her best not to trace her fingers down the spine on show, and failing just enough.

"Promise me you'll call Kya if you need anyone." she took a step back, still holding on to Asami's arms, "She's good with broken hearts."

The next moment stunned the heiress, as Korra pushed her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, Asami grabbed her arms again before touching Korra's with her own.

"Her number's on the dresser." Korra told her, and like that she was gone.

Korra left a part of her behind when she left that hotel room. She knew it the second she left, and felt it's tether stretch the further away she got. _Go back, go back, _said a voice, _she let you go, _said another, _because of course she would._

As soon as she saw Kya's house again she remembered that morning, entangled, Asami above her, touching her. She did her best to put it out of her mind as she went around the house and straight to the bar.

Kuvira stood as Mars ready for war, she wore a blazer and shirt unbuttoned just enough to show cleavage, tucked into long trousers to show how toned the rest of her was, all red, leaning back against the bar and perusing the ocean in front of it. Her hair was braided at the back. When she saw Korra finally she smirked in a way that tugged Korra forward.

"You look so unapproachable." Korra jibed, smiling back.

"And yet here you are." Kuvira waved a hand at all of her, taking everything in. Korra was no stranger to her own toned body, she'd chosen the dress because it showed her best features, her back and her front.

"Very femme," Kuvira remarked.

"I'm feeling my island fantasy." Korra moved to run her fingers through her hair, but touching the hibiscus she froze and felt the silk of the petals in her fingertips instead. "Where are you taking me?"

"Someplace chic," Kuvira smiled slyly, standing to her full height and stepping her boots into the sand.

"Don't let Kya hear you say that," Korra smiled back, following as the taller woman led her to the cab waiting on nearby.

"Oh she knows," She opened the door for Korra to slide in.

"With skills like that you could work in any bar in the world. Why here?" Korra asked, tilting her head.

"Kya did me a solid," Kuvira answered. "She really made me feel like home."

"Oh that's it, the whole story?"

Kuvira heaved a mock put out sigh.

"Run of the mill, kicked out the family for being gay, addicted to this and that on the streets, Kya peeled me off the ground. Got me the in with Ueno after I ran the bar for a year, yada yada."

"That doesn't sound run of the mill to me." Korra tilted her head, "I had a tough time getting off prescriptions."

"Oh yeah how did you get into the soccer mom pills?"

"I was hit by hit and run driver." Korra lifted her skirt to show the scars, "Couldn't walk,"

"Holy shit," Kuvira reached for the marks, but stopped herself, for that Korra was grateful.

"Look at us," Korra's lips found her half smile, and for the first time Kuvira's seemed genuine.

They stopped outside a bar, the lights outside read simply, _COOLER, _Korra cocked a brow and looked derisively at her date.

"You weren't kidding when you said I could cool off."

"Wait till you see inside," She offered a hand which Korra took, noting that for the first time in days she had just held someone's hand that wasn't Asami's. That was when the pit in her stomach began to form.

Clouds of dry ice greeted them once inside and Kuvira asked,

"Have you ever heard of molecular mixology?"

"_Have I?" _Korra exulted, "No I haven't," she admitted. Kuvira handed her a menu, and she balked, "These are cocktails?"

"Finest on Ember Island," Kuvira boasted leaning on the bar.

"Salmon Jerky Marg?"

"I always tend to go for the backwards Bellini," the taller woman brought the barman over with a finger, "What would you like?"

"I want the Marg," Korra shrugged.

"You're brave." Kuvira turned to the barman, "Bellini, and the Salmon."

The barman winked at Korra with a grin of his own.

"So," Kuvira began, and suddenly Korra knew she was about to ask something interesting, "Honeymooner huh?"

"Go ahead, ask." Korra pursed her lips, catching her reflection in the mirror at the back of the bar.

"How did that happen?"

"Ah but aren't you glad it did?" Korra took up her now served drink and served it up for a toast. She sipped and her face scrunched up.

"Can I get you ladies anything else?"

"Yeah, you can take away that fish drink it's making her wince." Kuvira laughed, "another Bellini,"

"Sorry," Korra apologised.

"That sounds like a dodge," Kuvira noted, bringing the conversation back to before they had been interrupted.

"How many women have you introduced the backward Bellini to?"

"And another." Kuvira cocked her head, "have you ever admitted your feelings for her to yourself?"

Korra looked down, caught, so utterly trapped by it.

"I'm being a good friend," she looked up at Kuvira with conviction, "that's all."

Kuvira hummed, inclined to believe her, at least outwardly. She took Korra by the wrist, and led her to a booth.

"So how did you two meet?"

Korra knew what she was doing, but the smile that met her lips at the memory was undeniable.

"She kicked my ass."

"The priss? _No_,"

"We were Mixed Martial arts competitors when we were 15, same weight group. It was a state competition, she just moved to Republic City. You ever hear that rule, when you get to prison you beat up the biggest baddest guy in the place."

"Was this an alternate universe where you were taller?"

"State champion three years running. Asami knew who I was before walking through the door. Had me down in nine seconds. Before her I never had a girl who was a friend, and, well after that she seemed like the perfect fit for my first."

Korra to this day still wonders if that knockout made her gay, but she couldn't argue with results. When Korra had come to, Asami already had a compact over her forehead, checking her pupils reacting to the light, but they remained blown wide at the sight of her, and her braces glinting in the fluorescent lights burned themselves into her memories.

_"I think she is concussed sensei!" _she had yelled. Korra didn't understand the feelings bombarding her prepubuscent hormonal brain, and in hindsight only hit her when it was too late.

Korra took a sip of her sweet drink to snap her out of it.

"She was jilted at the altar," Korra confessed finally, "she never gets time off, and paid a bunch of non refundable deposits, and I am a sucker for my best friend."

"Uh huh," Kuvira hummed unconvinced, as she once again scanned Korra's form for inconsistencies she noticed the shell bracelet on her wrist. Tentatively she reached for it, placing her drink on the table before using her other hand to balance over Korra's crossed knees. "This is beautiful."

Korra felt the touch like a bolt up her spine. Korra knew the move, she'd made it before herself and she smirked at the idea of being at the receiving end of her own designs.

"We all have one, me and Kya's nieces and nephews from when we used to visit, we spent a family afternoon making them in Kya's kitchen."

Kuvira looked at her with conviction then, curl of a smile edging on her lips as she watched, mere inches from her face.

"Gorgeous,"

Korra knows what happens next, she felt in Kuvira's fingertips, gently printing against her wrist, and she know exactly what she wants. She asks herself why, when they're so similar and Kuvira looks like she's served with a side of queer goddess, she isn't mirroring her?

There isn't a moment to process the next however, when the bar tender comes to their table and puts down two more bellini's.

"_We didn't order these,_" Kuvira looks ready to snap his arm off.

"I-I know," He stammered, "They're from the gentlemen over there," he points over shoulder and Korra's eyes skate over the two men, smiling smugly and giving simultaneous three fingered waves in new perfect synchronicity.

"So send them back." Kuvira commands.

"_No_," Korra reaches for one, "Let's not turn down a free drink,"

She's unsure why she's doing this, and reaching across the table then feels like poking a bear. Her ears heat up, the way she knows they do when mistakes are being made, still she sits back in her seat and enjoys a sip, which turns into an awkward hearty gulp of frozen peach and schnapps.

Kuvira watches the whole process and finds a beleaguered smile.

"You know they're going to be coming to bother us all night right?"

"I thought you enjoyed the challenge of taking me away from someone else," Korra shot back, winking.

The taller woman's eyes darkened in that lustful way Korra had seen the first night, and it had the same affect on her in this bar as it had then.

"Dance with me" Kuvira offered a hand and Korra took it, feeling her intentions, good, bad, reasonable or swirling with guilt ebb and flow like waves. She knew she was being scatty and and changing like the wind, but Kuvira was holding her ground, leading the path, and so sure of where this evening would go. But, she decided, where was the fun in knowing.

As they entered the throng of club goers she kept loose her grip on Kuvira's wrist before they were in the centre. She moved to the bass and let the music take her, teasing Kuvira here and there, close and far, bending back and knowing displaying just how strong and flexible she was. Kuvira may have had the upper hand before, but dancing with Korra was no contest.

Suddenly an ill presence fell upon her, a hard body pressed against her back and hand gripping the scars on her thigh.

Korra reacted with out thinking, tearing the offending hand up, turning fluidly and jamming her palm into the strangers nose. One of the waving man from earlier, now crumpled on the ground.

"Jesus!" Kuvira breathed, she touched her shoulder and Korra flinched, "Are you okay?"

It took her a moment to catch her breath and watch the man scramble on the sticky ick of the dance floor with his bleeding nose and bumbling friend cursing as he went.

"Yeah," she breathed, "Take me to Kya's,"

Kuvira gripped her wrist and led her out before hailing a cab. Korra was shaking with adrenaline and hugging herself to keep calming, counting breaths in her head.

"Hey," Kuvira got her attention, "You did nothing wrong okay?"

Korra nodded, taking a deeper breath.

"It's been a while since anyone grabbed my ass like that." she admitted.

"I'm glad I didn't try,"

"Maybe ask permission first," Korra smiled wryly. Kuvira gently ushered her into the cab,

It seemed so soon to end the date, but Korra couldn't say anything as she leant her head against the cool window and watched the houses slide past.

When they reached that familiar, homely porch she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for tonight," she mumbled, "I'm sorry I ruined it," she added stepping out of the cab.

"Hey," Kuvira stepped out behind her, hand loosely gripping her wrist, "I had a good time tonight. When that guy went down, I think I was more attracted to you."

Her eyes flicked up over Korra's shoulder for half a second before landing back on her face in that enthralling way. Her fingers traced the curve of muscle over Korra's bicep lightly, and suddenly Korra realised how little space was now between them.

"This night doesn't have to end here," Kuvira told her, "I don't live far."

Korra felt the record playing the audio of her life scratch and pause as Kuvira's mouth suddenly found hers.

A vase broke behind them, and the Korra flipped her view, to find that Asami, who by the looks of it had already been crying, was stood on the porch frozen at the sight of them.

"_I just came for some air." _the heiress stuttered out before finding the doorhandles behind her and running inside.

Korra looked down at the ground, mortified.

"Korra?" it was the first time Korra had ever heard her say her name, and it was jarring to say the least.

"I think I better fix that." was all Korra could utter under the circumstances; she was rebooting and had regressed to basic Korra, 1.0; _do as Asami needs you to_.

"Kya is good with hopeless cases," Kuvira posed the argument, "You can't have one night off from her drama?"

Korra felt all her muscles tighten at that. Her internal compass now yanking her back inside by her very being.

"You don't understand."

"No I do understand you Korra. You've made a choice, and that choice is always putting her needs before yours. You're addicted to it,"

Korra could do nothing but look on at the closed doors and hope that they would open.

"You can ignore it all you want but the fact is until you face it all with her you're never going to be ready to fall in love with somebody else because you're already there; at the bottom, anything else is just a waste of my time."

Kuvira's words washed over her like harsh waves of truth. Every bit of it.

"If you knew all this. Then why'd you take me out tonight?"

"Because I wanted to show you there's more to life than skinny prissy little rich girls!"

Korra faced her, jaw tight, blue eyes sharp as flint.

"There is," she whispered back, "Goodnight Kuvira." and with that she followed Asami back into the house.


	7. Chapter 7

"Her number's on the dresser." Korra had told her, before shutting the door.

Asami felt a piece of herself she had finally begun to recognise leave with Korra. It waved at her as she passed by. The heiress stood, watching the wood, half hoping Korra had forgotten something, that she thought better of their interaction and decided to stay. The seconds ticked by, and of course no-one came.

_I told her to go, _she mused finally, sitting back down on what was to be her bed for the foreseeable. She hadn't asked, but looking now she could see they were parallel to the beds in Kya's house, Asami's the left, furthest from the door, Korra's the right, closer.

She looked down at the partially shredded paper in her hands and put her feet on Korra's bed.

A part of her, a large piece of her that was growing larger every moment she spent her, wanted to ignore it all. What exactly would it take to run away here and convince Korra to stick around just long enough to fall in love with her?

_So it was love now was it?_

She felt a wave of shame wash over her then, so soon after Iroh left her, she had allowed this unprecedented sense of magnetism drag her into Korra's orbit, and all the ice sculptor ever did was be kind to her.

Turning the letter over, she noted that after she had torn it out, Korra had tightly folded it, before slipping it back in the envelope.

_Dear Asami, _

_If you're reading this, I did the unthinkable. I have left you._

_I'm sorry that it had to be this way. I felt this the second we were engaged and when I did I prayed for it to be jitters. But the date came closer and I felt the world sliding past my feet. _

_They say you fight more when you get engaged, that the stress of the wedding turns you both in to monsters fretting over every tiny decision, but strangely I let it all wash over me, and it was because this wasn't anything I cared about. Not the color scheme, what we should serve, the toast to our futures - none of it. I sat down to write my vows and, well, I wrote this, the night before. I should have been thinking about this before we were even engaged._

_I'm looking at the way we lived, the roles we took on outwardly, all the while taking separate shifts in the same bed. Everything we built in that apartment, I was putting the bars up on my own prison. _

_The time we did spend together was this or performing the art of monogamy in front of your business partners or friends. Hell, for everything I missed, Korra was ready to pick up the slack, and I was fine with that, but often I found myself wondering if I was even your friend much less a lover. I did the dishes, held your hand, binged shows on the idiot box. The only time we connected was during sex. _

_I'm writing this at your desk, and I checked you have more pictures of Korra here than me, considering all she's done for you it's not that surprising. I guess it just goes to show you what you really care about, and I'm thinking what I'm feeling here is pretty mutual._

_I will always cherish the time I spent with you, and its difficult to say why I know it should be over when you're as perfect as you are. It only got so far because we were going through the motions, never checking to see if the person we had chosen was right for us. _

_I did that check today, finally, and I realised - You are not the centre of my world._

_You deserve better._

_Goodbye,_

_Iroh_

Asami found her fingers clutching the paper so tight she almost tore it. She wanted to scream, except, the moment she decided to she realised she already was, vocal chords ripping as she ripped the words.

She swore and called him a coward and then stopped.

_You have more pictures of Korra than me._

She read the words again, but this time, threw her mind back to her mahogany, hand carved writing desk, in the study of their apartment. They'd had black and white professional photos done, Iroh looked the perfect part, arms around her, dressed in white so their shockingly brilliant facial features and hair took pride of place. These were littered across the apartment, but her desk, only Asami ever sat at her desk.

"_A general should be out there," _Iroh had nobly stated, "_with his troops, as much as he can be," _

So no desk was ever needed for Iroh.

In her minds eye, she studied the monochrome poster-couple wet dream in the silver frame, and then she slipped onto the other pictures. Mostly group shots, of her friends, and yes Korra was among them. Korra with Mako and Bolin and Opal. Korra re-taking her first steps again at the physical therapists office, it wasn't a moment to miss. Her and Korra, lounging that day at the beach. She never questioned it, she had so little desk space to fill with perfect memories, why not fill them with her favourites?

Another photo called out to her, tucked in safe behind the nest.

After Hiroshi, her father's, indictment, Asami had thrown the family portrait of them, mother alive and smiling, daughter, small and innocent, father, demure and well not as innocent, across her study. She'd mourned him, specifically the man she thought he was, and Iroh did what he could but he'd only just been promoted at the time, he had to make a good impression. In comes Korra, with arms full of exactly what she needed.

Upon last seeing the portrait, its shattered frame had scratched the ink, but while there Korra had reframed it and put it behind the others. Waiting for when Asami was ready to look again.

The heiress couldn't breathe, she was laughing, in a terrified, mad sort of a way. Every time she tried to stop she doubled over and the tears came pouring.

She had wasted so much time with this man who didn't know what he wanted. She had it all planned out, and everything had happened just as planned, right until the crucible moment., and she had loved him all that time. Yanking back a few, painful, calming gasps she came to on the floor between two beds. Leaking, flat out, wondering just how forced every smile Iroh had ever given her actually was.

She reached above her, taking the phone from the dresser and paper beside it, and dialling.

_"Kya's place, how can I help?" _it was Kana, putting on her perfect customer service lilt as she spoke. _"Hello?"_

Asami listened and struggled with her voice to say anything coherent. It was over, he was gone, and it was all a lie, for what? Finally, with one important thought alone, she managed.

"_Korra_,"

_"Asami? Sweetie is that you?"_

_"I need Korra." _

_"Tell me where you are, Kya and I will come get you. Can you tell us where you are?"_

Asami's chest was fluttering then as the wave of anguish came back with a vengeance, she made a keening sound she couldn't control as she tried to reclaim her breathing, and Kana told her,

_"Breathe, honey, in, 1,2,3,4, hold, out, 1,2,3,4…now tell me where you are?"_

"Hotel." Asami managed.

_"Okay, stay where you are, see you in forty-five," _Kana hung up, and Asami felt the rawness of everything claw back into her again as she lay on that floor knees to chest.

She tried eagerly to centre herself, listening to the waves lapping at the ocean outside, remembering the calm tranquility of being immersed in it with Korra as her guide. As she always had been.

_"You kicked my butt!"_ Korra had told her, the day they met, after their first spar, wiping blood on the sleeve of her Gi from her nose, "_we're gonna be friends!" _that memory of Korra jutting out her hand for Asami to shake had her laughing again, and when her sadness washed in it swirled into that perfectly strange form of panic attack only Asami knew too well.

She knew why she did it of course, a lifetime of suppressing emotion for business taught her from an early age to hide her feelings. Smile through the sadness, don't let them know you mourn your mother or that your father betrayed you. Laugh through the pain, laugh through the happiness, sooner or later the two merge. It was all the more twisted when she felt those emotions at the same time.

She wondered if she had dissociated much, until she realised she was not in a car with her head in Kya's lap with an unfamiliar jacket over her shoulders. Kana was driving them, the car was draped in the silence.

"What did he do to you?" Kya had muttered it, and when Asami realised that while petting her head, the older woman was reading Iroh's letter with an objective eye she dared not look up. "What a cock."

Asami sat up and Kya folded the pieces of it together, but made no move to give it back.

"Hey, you feeling better?"

"I'm sorry." Asami blurted, "I shouldn't have called. I wanted-"

"Korra," Kya cut her off, pursing her lips, once again inspecting, "She's on her date isn't she?"

Asami nodded soberly.

"We'll take care of you for her." Kya told her firmly, gripping Asami's hand on the seat before opening her arms. It took the heiress longer than it should have to realise what was being offered here, slowly she edged into Kya's embrace, tucking her nose into her shoulder.

It felt good to be hugged for no other reason than to be hugged.

For the first time in days, the heiress felt calm, and she realised it was because she was at the bottom of it all. Nowhere to go but up.

When they got to the house, Kya led her to the couch and sat her down there. A moment later Kana came around with hot camomile tea and made her take it with both hands. Asami gave a watery smile at the gesture, trying her best not to cry anymore in front of these strangers. They sat beside her, rubbing her back and watching her drink and making it very difficult to do so.

"Can I ask you something?" Asami asked, desperate to ease the kind cannon they had been shooting her with.

"Anything," Kana urged.

"Was I a complete idiot for coming here? So soon after Iroh?"

"You were trying to make the best out of a bad situation." Kya reasoned.

"And bringing Korra was a stroke of genius," Kana gushed, earning a sharp look from her partner.

"You don't think I'm just torturing her? With all my emotions and having to fill in for…him?"

"Korra tortures herself." Kya retorted, "The shenanigans she pulls?" she nudged Asami, who sure did know about those shenanigans. "I think she would be more miserable if you were here alone with no support."

"Why is coming here so important? I know it's idillic but coming under the wrong circumstances its just throwing me through a loop, I'm beginning to think it was a mistake to even try to salvage this…honeymoon and as I say it yep, I'm a pshyco."

"Look you may not have ended up here in the most conventional circumstance but Ember Island is a magical place." Kana reasoned, "Give it a chance, and it can help you understand yourselves and each other."

The older woman leaned over to the coffee table and took one of the perfectly rounded rocks decorating its centre.

"The beach has a special way," she continued and Asami watched as she lifted her hand and placed the cool stone into her palm and enclosed her fingers, "of smoothing even the most ragged edges."

Asami looked down at her still manicured nails as she felt the weight of the stone in her palms.

"Excuse me, I gotta use the bathroom," the heiress hurriedly placed down the tea and rock and made for upstairs.

"What was that?" Kya seethed when she was out of earshot.

"I don't know I was trying not to say _Korra's into you and you should bone down when you have the chance!"_

_"Bone!"_

Asami couldn't hear the older couple bickering, on her fingers she felt the weight of the last piece of her wedding day still adorning her. When she closed the door she sought the clippers which she found in the medicine cabinet, cutting her fingernails short so the white pearlescent tips could no longer be seen. When she looked at herself, she saw her usual make up was long gone, but her cheeks were still marred with streaks from her tears. She washed her face and neck, towelling away the embarrassment and humiliation of the last few hours.

When she returned downstairs both Kya and Kana stood up, awaiting instructions.

"I want one alcohol please." Asami told them.

"Oh honey do you think that's-"

"And a fire," she added, looking pointedly at the letter left on the coffee table. "Will you help me?"

"Absolutely," Kana told her, squeezing her arm as she squeezed past her to the beach-back yard.

They ended up surrounding a barbecue, Asami clutching the paper at her hip with one hand, and rum sans ice in the other.

"Would you like to say a few words?" Kana encouraged.

The heiress took a sip, pondering.

"Fuck you coward." she spoke to the letter, "for not knowing what you wanted. For wasting my time. For making me feel like I'm not enough. Fuck me, for believing it."

She threw the paper on the flame, watching it slowly blacken, burn and curl into itself. They watched it in abject silence, the three of them, until Kana noticed something.

"You cut your nails?"

Asami held her hand out and tried not to remember what it was like to admire a ring there.

"Last piece of the wedding still on me so…I wanted rid."

"No other reason?" Kya nudged her wife and Asami caught her.

"Like what?"

Kana mumbled into her drink, eyes looking mock-sorrowfully up at her partner, "_Korra_?"

Asami's ears turned red, but she was grateful the pair she was with could hardly see it.

"I'm lucky that she came." Asami wasn't oblivious to what Kana meant, and even then she was thrown back to all those entangled fantasies she'd found herself having, but still, she couldn't give in to any of it. Korra was no longer her crutch here.

"I think I need some air." she gestured into the house away from the smoke, but just as she went inside she found a need to explore the new light outside.

Her heart dropped when she saw them, standing in close conversation under the street-lamplight. Kuvira looked over Korra's shoulder and locked eyes with Asami, before whispering something to Korra and-

Her mouth was on hers, purposeful, taunting and Korra just _stood_ there. Asami stumbled, in which direction she didn't know but suddenly a vase was in bits at her feet and she had been caught spying.

"_I just came for some air." _the heiress stuttered out before finding the doorhandles behind her and running inside.

She went up, to the last place she felt safe in the twin bed she had shared with Korra that first night.

When Korra closed the door she felt like she should go back and yell, but her heart wasn't in it, it was upstairs.

Kya came out from the back and looked around.

"Where is she?"

Korra shook her head and looked upstairs.

Kya inspected her, and Korra swore the older woman could see the kiss that had been planted on her lips just then. Vying from scrutiny she followed the heiress to the guest room.

"Asami?"

She heard nothing, except the few sniffles that came emanating through the door.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing we don't already know - I am perfect and _unlovable," _her heavy breathing quickly became that panicked laughter.

"That's not the good laugh is it?"

"How was your date!"

"Oh there was a beginning middle and end. It ended. Pretty badly. We might be banned from Kya's bar I have to check-"

The door was yanked open then and Asami threw her arms around Korra, holding her tight, selfishly pressing her face into her neck.

"You are loved," Korra crooned, holding her upright and swaying a little as her tears spilled into her skin. "I've got you."


	8. Chapter 8

Korra rifled in Kya's airing cupboard, surprised how many guest pyjamas she had stored there. It seemed off-brand for such a free spirit to be so organised, but as Korra pulled the one size fits all set from the heated shelf she mused Kana was a good influence on Kya.

"I hope I have a woman like that with me when I'm 60,"

"Early fifties," Kya snapped startling her. Korra landed on her but and turned to the older couple looking down on her from the doorway.

"Okay!" Korra told her, turning the clothes in her hands and she felt as though she was shrinking. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she hesitated before asking, mainly because she already had an idea of the answer.

"What happened tonight Korra?" Kya asked her calmly.

"I- she said to go," she shrugged, "so I went," she could only look at the ground, thinking only of the way Asami had just clung to her just now. Korra didn't need to know the contents of the letter, she couldn't care less what that arsehole had said to her. She couldn't feel more ashamed of the fact she left her alone to face it.

"I know how bad it is, _I know, she's a mess _and I let her do that alone, and I hate myself for it and I- I can't be the person she needs me to be, I'm selfish."

Kya interrupted her field of view, kneeling into her level. She touched her wrist, pulling her out of her own thoughts, fingers tracing the seashell bracelet.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking _I'm in love with her_," Korra surprised herself by admitting it, but it only made her stomach drop, "but every second I spend here I feel like I'm the worst friend in the world."

"Oh hun," Kya brushed a tear from Korra's cheek she hadn't felt fall. Suddenly she was in a cocoon of warm bodies, holding her as she wept without moving.

"She wanted _you_," Kana told her, "she called us to find you."

Korra's sob came out shattered, the ball she kept herself in cracked just a little.

"I wasn't there,"

"No Korra, listen to me," Kana sat back on her heels to look her in the eye, "She was at her lowest moment and the only person she wanted _in the world _was you."

Korra sniffed as she took in what Kana was telling her, as her back was rubbed and hair mussed, she turned the words over in her head and looked at them with objectivity. Hoping the letters themselves might give her an answer as to what went on in the heiress' head, and why she was even on this island in the first place.

It occurred to her then that maybe she should ask. She started formulating questions as she pulled herself up off the ground, and committed them to memory as Kana and Kya hugged her goodnight, ready for the right moment.

She knew for a fact that now wasn't it, as she pushed open the guest bedroom door and saw the Carmaker laying awake in her bed, waiting.

Korra took steps towards the twin bed on the right, but before she even touched it she felt nimble fingers curl around the tips of her own. She didn't need to look down at her hand to see who was holding it, but she did it anyway, following the arm to find Asami sitting half upright and edging a wider and more inviting space on her bed.

The heiress didn't tug, she just waited, looking up at her with decidedly schooled features and reaching for Korra's wrist as the ice sculptor watched her. These wordless encounters were racking up, Korra thought, as she knelt into the cotton and warmth. Asami leant back into the pillows to take her in, hands amicably knotted behind her head, taking note of where exactly her lips accidentally brushed her neck as Korra's arms came around her in a tightly wound hug.

She languished the way Korra's body twisted into hers in secret, trying to get comfortable in a bed that barely held them both. Relief and disappointment seeped into her senses when she realised Korra wasn't going to shuffle back to look into her eyes.

She knew what she'd do in the face of it, but the weight of the day left her too exhausted to jump off that particular cliff, she thought, knowing she was being a coward and she should just say_ fuck it _and paint over the marks Kuvira had left on Korra's lips. She dreamed of it as she pressed her eyes into Korra's neck.

Eventually Korra found herself lying on her back, and the heiress once again on top of her, head tucked under her chin. She huffed a heavy sigh as she stilled herself, taking stock of the nimble arms gripping her middle, and the warm breath spilling over her chest.

"Rough day?" Asami asked finally, thumb tracing an arc over the ribs in her reach.

Korra let out a beleaguered laugh, but stopped when Asami's had grazed a particularly sensitive spot and she flinched to grab it. Asami made to tug it back, but Korra kept her grip, before either knew it the tips of their fingers interlocked, and stayed that way over Korra's stomach. The sensation was gripping, pulsing from their fingers into their chests and toes.

Suddenly Korra remembered why she had wanted two beds in the honeymoon suite in the hotel; there was no way she could sleep touching someone who made every cell of her being light up so inexplicably.

"I think that date might have ruined all the zen I had going from the massage," Korra admitted after too long a pause.

Both of them without looking were paying very much attention to the hands, almost intertwined. Asami's fingers edged down about five millimetres, and Korra's gripped them still.

The heiress' trapped hand under Korra's back rode up, rubbing circles over her shoulder blades in response. Korra felt her brain circuits frying as she was flooded with a range of emotions, only to be brought out of it when she tried to twist her legs and found that Asami's ankle was already against hers.

"_What did it say_?" She blurted, "the letter," she loosened her fingers and felt the heiress' land fully between her own, "It must've been bad if you wound up here."

"He said we were going through the motions." Asami mused calmly, reflecting on what she'd learned as though on an impartial island away, "That he didn't care about me in the way I deserved, and that I was trapping him with our _apartment, _and _friends, and a wedding he didn't care about." _

At the break in her voice Korra instinctively turned into her again, holding her against her tightly in the hopes to stem tears however, none came. Asami simply held her back, face buried into her shoulder, ankle brushing gently against hers, hands gripping tight the shirt Korra had been given from Kya.

"There was so much I didn't see," Asami whispered into Korra's skin, "I was the one engineering this whole life and I couldn't tell it was a trap, not until it snared me,"

"You are not a trap," Korra assured her, rubbing her back, "You are not unlovable. You knew what you wanted, and he didn't and it's his loss."

Old Asami, the Asami from just a few days ago, would have said something along the lines of, _but it feels like my loss, _except in that moment it didn't. Her arms and heart was full of one - Korra.

"You're loveable too," Asami told her, feeling the ice sculptor tense beneath her hands, even as she gently drew them up her spine to rest on her neck. "When you find someone…you have to tell me Korra, okay? Promise me," _tell me it's me, _she added silently. Korra heaved another harsh sigh, loaded with the heavy truths she kept secret.

"When I'm ready, I will."

Asami felt the vagueness of the answer fill the silence that followed. As much as she needed validation, she lived in this moment of hope.

"_And it better not be Kuvira," _she added, hoping to ease the tension of it, and it worked; Korra laughed.

"Your hair smells like fire." Korra told her, "I think it's bothering me," she admitted.

"Here," Asami shuffled, back, careful not to look Korra in the eye as before she manoeuvred her, turning her away. The separation was short lived however, as she pressed the length of her body against the back of Korra's, reaching over to grab the hand she had claimed earlier, locking their fingers and holding them over her chest.

"Can you sleep like this?" she asked, once again slipping her foot between Korra's, _god I love how warm her feet are. _

Korra nodded rubbing her ankle over hers in response.

"Goodnight Korra,"

"Night Asami,"

Korra knew this was a dream. She'd had so many of them before. It was a little heartbreaking that it was occurring in the room she'd fallen asleep in. The first thing she saw was Asami, staring at her again, and the next her numb lips were kissing her tightly, arms around her like a vice around her chest.

It was dreams like this that showed Korra exactly how she felt, no matter how far she ran from it. Every time she tried to pull away, the night brought a new dream of the heiress pulling her close, giving her everything her waking self couldn't have. The maddening thing was it still wasn't enough, no matter how hard she pressed or where she put her hands, she couldn't feel any of it.

Korra hated these dreams, but it was all she had.

"_Korra," _she heard Asami keen her name before sucking on her neck.

Korra smelled smoke, and opening her eyes again, looking out the windows she knew and saw the volcano belching flames and magma.

That old fear jolted her awake.

She was still facing away from Asami, thin layer of sweat coating her skin, cold feet rubbing hers, and fingers still entwined over her chest.

There was a difference to when she had finally managed to drift off however, a soft kiss was being placed on the back of her neck.

_"It's ok, it's just a bad dream_," Asami mumbled sleepily, seemingly unaware of Korra's impending panic attack, "_go back to sleep baby_,"

Another kiss, and Korra flinched out the bed. Asami didn't wake, instead reaching blind and unconscious, for the warm in the dark.

"_Sweetie come back t' bed," _

Korra covered her mouth to prevent noise from coming out. She considered the options, that Asami had thought she had gone to bed as usual, with her fiance and that Korra was him, or…

She stood, watching the unsettled expression on Asami's face as she slept without the body beside her. The shivering got to her, and Korra pulled the blanket over the bride's shoulders, before slipping out of the room.

She stalked through the house with her head in her hands, not having to look as she turned the corners and walked down the stairs. Her body ran hot and charged and everything inside it was twisting unbearably. Korra walked herself outside and continued across the beach until her feet hit the sea. She waded in until it was starting to soak the bottoms of her borrowed shorts.

She regarded the inky, glinting blue for a moment, and endured the cacophony of emotions throttling her before diving straight in. It was cooling and relieving and as she floated and she did her best to separate herself from her feelings. Asami was good at this, she recalled, no room for feelings in business.

Korra's came out in a big wet wad as she breathed deep breaths and her body jutted with the gentle current of the water. She looked up at the stars and saw a limitless sky, it went on from horizon to horizon, she got lost in the zenith, and reminded herself that she was lucky to be alive.

Asami Sato had kissed her neck. She could put the memory in her pocket.

Asami Sato woke alone. She had fallen asleep with her forehead against the back of Korra's neck and now there was no sign of her. When she sat up she inspected the rooms for signs, her bed was empty but the door ajar, and now that she saw that she saw the wet footprints leading from the door to the bathroom.

She followed it and found Korra's soaked clothes draped over the side of the tub. Korra was nowhere to be found.

The sun was rising, it was only 7 am. Asami knew Korra hated mornings, or more accurately, she thought they were evil. Which is why she thought it odd to find her in the kitchen, finishing an intricate carving of a watermelon owl.

"Korra?"

The sculptor jumped. Wide eyes clashing with Asami's and taking in her friend, confused and messy and looking like she just walked out of a dream. Korra tried not to look at her lips.

"Hey," she responded, before returning to the task at hand, displaying apples carved into swans next to strawberries trussed into roses.

"How long have you been up?"

"A while," Korra admitted, regarding her work on Asami's side of the kitchen island, but careful not to get close to her.

"Can we eat…any of this?" Asami asked incredulously, still not sure if she herself had actually woken up.

"Sure, maybe wait until Kya and Kana come for the watermelon owl, or the apple swans, but if you can't wait, I can make you a banana duck."

Asami blinked and stared at her friend to try and gauge her sanity levels. She leapt into action and placed her hand on Korra's forehead.

"Are you sure you're ok? You're not getting feverish?"

"I'm fine Asami," Korra took her hands away from her, "I just, I woke up early,"

"Why?" Asami asked, "You hate mornings,"

Korra couldn't help but feel a little interrogated, but of course Asami remembered none of it, and what it meant to Korra. She swallowed sand, and answered.

"I had a nightmare."

"Oh Korra," Asami went to hug her and Korra was immediately tense beneath her hands, and wouldn't hug her back. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's ok." Korra tried.

"Is it?" Asami snapped, stepping back to look at her, "What's going on with you? Why wont you talk to me?"

"You thought I was him," Korra snapped back, "You kissed my neck, called me baby_, sweetie…_After I woke up from the nightmare." she averted her eyes and gripped her own elbows. "I didn't want you to wake up to the wrong person so I-"

"_Went swimming_?"

Korra stared at her pleadingly, biting her lip, shrugging. Now that Asami was awake she did recall Korra leaving her, how empty it felt, how she wanted her to come back. Bit by bit the wording came back, but she absolutely knew who she was talking to, and in sleep her inhibitions had been eroded to nothing.

Suddenly she grabbed at her fingers tucked under her elbow and grounded her in her gaze, Asami took a moment to make her mouth work around her words.

"You are _not_ the wrong person Korra," she assured, finding herself in Korra's orbit, feeling it's pull. Her eyes skimmed her lips once again. She was living in the moment, the still, the possibilities, the pleasures she stole in from the woman in front of her, drawing the blade of her finger along her jaw.

"Holy shit, Korra!" Kya interrupted them, and Korra leapt back from Asami as though she had been burned, "is this all the fruit from the bar?"

"I couldn't sleep," Korra responded, turning to her almost-aunt, and watching as her sleep deprived partner came in, opened the fridge, took a sip from a bottle of water in there, saw the decorations and spit the contents of her mouth in response of the ridiculous scene before her.

Kya patted her back as her partner sputtered. Asami watched as Korra's crooked grin returned and she gripped the back of her own neck in that shy way of hers.

"How did you sleep?" Kya directed the question to Asami.

"When Korra left it got lonely," the heiress admitted, ignoring the follow up choke Kana had on her drink and instead watching the conflict on Korra's face. For the first time in as many days, Asami finally understood what it all meant.

She took a strawberry rose from the table and bit into it, eyes never straying from the swirling blue's in front of her.

"We have a hike," Asami told her, "on the other side of the island," she inspected the rose she had halved in her fingers, "We should go soon if we're going to meet up with the tour."

"Is that the Mt Makapu tour?" Kya asked. Asami nodded popping the other half of the rose into her mouth. "Well when you're done with the yuppies, there's a path I want you to take."

"I'm sure the regular death volcano tour is fine," Korra jibed offering Kana a swanned apple.

Kya rolled her eyes and took out a notepad, "About a third of the way up, theres a plateau where the steps go on, don't go up them."

"Sounds logical." Korra mocked.

"Behind the foliage theres a footpath that hugs the cliff face, you'll come to an opening in the rock, a cavern and inside well, why don't you tell me what you find inside."

Korra gave her a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Do you really want us to eat this owl?" Kana asked.

Korra looked at her creations, and into the berry eyes of the owl she had so lovingly carved.

"I'll make some eggs,"


	9. Chapter 9

Korra looked up at the mouth of the mountain, and tried not to imagine it cracking open with the molten hot core of this most vengeful earth.

"There is an infinitesimal chance that volcano will erupt and kill us all," Asami told her from behind, reaching forward and squeezing her forearm.

"That's what the dinosaurs thought, and Pompeii," she mused, "And Iceland,"

"Do you memorise these?"

"Krakatoa, Pinatubo, Etna," Korra checked the list on her fingers as they waited at the base of it. They were one of three, Korra tried not so shudder, _couples. _

"Korra, it's a mountain now, it's dead inside." She also tried not to shudder as Asami rubbed her arm assuredly.

"The mountain and I have that in common." Korra stretched, feeling the exhaustion of the night still weighing on her shoulders, but mainly to distance Asami's touch from her bare arm.

She didn't turn to see the injured expression that flickered over Asami's visage. The two of them stood a distance apart, arms arranged in impromptu and comfortless self hugs as they waited for the guide, and watched the honeymooners whisper amongst themselves.

They flinched when a newlywed announced proudly.

"I shall carry my moon up the mountain back to the stars!"

The best friends shared a look as the man lifted his wife with an arm and pointed up the mountain.

"So long as we don't have to go back down with them," Asami nudged Korra, who finally found her smile.

They were teetering over the precipice. They hadn't managed anything other than small talk the entire morning since leaving Kya's.

Asami had mused that she had spend money on a very nice hotel room that she hadn't slept in since arriving here. Korra had felt a bitter part of her want to say why didn't she stay there and Asami stay at the hotel. Even though she didn't, she'd felt guilty about it ever since.

Korra knew she had only a few small words left at this point, and that beyond those dozen or so there were only the big existential questions that led her to the base of her biggest fear. _To two of her biggest fears, _she reiterated daring another glance at Asami in hiking clothes. Beige high waisted shorts, timberlands that in any other climate would be wildly impractical and a loose red vest. She had a comically small rucksack which only held a protein bar and a canteen.

Best friend Korra would have made humorous comments at her expense, but somehow Honeymoon Korra couldn't bring herself to.

_Day three on the alien planet. _She thought to herself miserably.

_"Welcome newlyweds welcome," _A calming bright, yet monotone voice emanated from behind them, "_And_ guests," the woman corrected as she walked past Asami and Korra and indicated toward them. It was the first time in all day Korra stepped towards Asami for safety as the woman's overtly friendly smile beamed at them. The heiress snatched her arm the first chance she got.

She felt a sense of relief that for but a moment; they looked like the others.

"I am Joo Dee, your guide up our most majestic mountain - _Mt Makapu,_" she presented at the natural phenomenon in front of them with a flurry of circular hand gestures, "Formed thousands of years ago, when the tectonics plates crush against-"

_"We know how volcanoes are formed," _Korra snapped. Joo Dee's face froze as she regarded the unhappy camper.

"I'm sorry, she's afraid of magma," Asami defended her squeezing her arm as Korra palmed her own face.

"And I learned about volcanoes in third grade, fourth grade, TV and I'm being a bitch, my aunt lives here and used to torture me with it. Carry on nice lady. We will stay at the back."

"Carry on," Asami finished for her, praying the the group would stop staring daggers soon.

When they did and Joo Dee went on and began to lead and talk, her noise was quiet enough to not affect the heiress and ice sculptor, caught in a tight tandem walk along the path, admiring a specific kind of view.

Korra sought to numb the cacophony of feelings barraging her at the moulding of Asami's forearm against hers. Some how Korra had to come up with a way of being supportive without touching her.

"You shouldn't torture civilians like that," Asami broke her thoughts, "I'm always impressed with your ray gun of truth, but it packs a punch."

"She only got a second of it," Korra shrugged, "she still has her eyebrows."

Korra tugged away from the heiress as soon as she could, but when she felt her hand wrap around hers she found the wall she had yet to truly break through preventing her from letting go.

"Why are you holding on?" it was an out of body experience asking that question, best friend (love sick) Korra would have kicked her for it. She rubbed her thumb over Asami's knuckles to make up for it.

"So we don't look suspicious," Asami defended, "we've infiltrated the vestiges of couple-dom,"

"No-one can see us we're at the back."

"Maybe it's for me." Korra felt Asami flex her fingers between her own.

"How are you feeling?" Korra turned back after stepping over a ridge, and guided Asami over the path she took, "I figure dangling from a cliffside that may spontaneously combust any second is a good place for you vent your feelings."

"Only if it'll make you remember this volcano is _dormant_,"

"Only in _living_ memory," Korra murmured. "You seem to be uh," _how do I put this in a way that doesn't make me seem like I'm in love with her? _"Touching me a lot," _Or an alien._

"Is that not okay? I'm sure I've…touched you before, right?"

"Um," Korra looked down at their hands, and bit her lip seeing how Asami didn't pull away, but she hadn't either. "I'm sure not this much." She admitted, "I would've noticed."

"I guess I've become a little needy," with her free hand Asami tucked her hair behind her ear and looked ahead, "Since getting here everything is so raw." She explained, "I feel like I've been asleep for a long time and now I'm awake."

"Wow, way to compare yourself to another Disney princess, _princess." _

Asami smiled and felt eased, especially as Korra's thumb traced patterns on her own.

"After my mom died, after dad went to prison, I know I turned my feelings off. Like lights. I went through the world, unencumbered by emotions and attachment to put the rest of my life back together, but I always thought, with you I was normal. You made me feel happy and I loved you for that…" Asami trailed off, pursing her lips.

Korra's heart stopped.

"But you never told me what a train wreck my relationship with Iroh was, like a three year slow motion train wreck between _a corpse bride and a cold fish._"

Korra's heart dropped.

"And I'm now that I'm not blind anymore… I can see you're _keeping_ stuff from me." Asami raised her hands, with Korra's right entangled still. "You stopped talking to me _about you, _but you were still there, just keeping secrets with Opal and it left me wondering have I offended you?"

"No Asami-"

"Like did you think I _deserved what happened?"_

_"God No, Asami, _you deserve everything. I don't mean everything, I mean like everything good-"

They'd stopped following the troupe midway between the conversation, but neither of them could say when. Korra felt exposed, and their hands had slipped apart. She wanted to cover her chest to protect from being impaled. She was at a loss for who to deal with the ground opening up and swallowing her.

"I just realised you've never weighed in on any of my relationship with Iroh. In fact the only time I've ever seen you acknowledge it was when I commissioned a giant mystery ice sculpture from my wedding that failed. What kind of a best friend does that?"

Korra hoped for an iota of civilisation then. A door to close. A room in which to hide. All she could see were rocks and shrubs, none of which were big enough to hide a fully grown human female.

"Korra I get that you're neutral in a lot of things but you must have had some kind of opinion on this. This relationship came to such a cataclysmic end, there must have been some objective red flags along the way? Please Korra talk to me." the cadence in Asami's voice then was the final stroke of mallet onto chisel, "You never talk to me anymore."

The tight ball Korra in which Korra kept her meta-physical self fell apart, exhausted from struggling, from controlling her words, her expressions, her truths. She spoke not without thinking, but without being able to say anything else.

"He was never right for you,"

"Iroh is, _was_, good to me, a good man from a good family." Asami reacted reflexively.

"Good is not enough, Asami. Not for the rest of your want someone who pulls you across the room with just one look. Whose touch, lights up your fucking skin and sends your heart racing. It's," Korra stopped herself. "Iroh was safe for you. Easy to love. I guess that's easy when all you have to do is meet up a couple days a week in the apartment you share, have mediocre sex and plan your two point five children in the nuclear family you never had. I don't blame you. After what you've been through you deserve everything you want, but I just thought…he wasn't right for you."

Korra turned, unwilling to see the damage she was sure she'd just inflicted. She could see the path up ahead, curling on the cliff out of sight. She knew the way but couldn't take a step towards it just then.

"There she is." Asami said after a moment, voice calm, disappointed, "There's my friend. Where did she go?"

"She moved out of the way." Korra told her, "So you could be happy." She was on the edge of her truth staring over its abyss. She still didn't know what possessed her to take that step.

She was even more confused when she heard Asami following her. The path hugging the cliff curled into the mouth of a cavern, ancient steps carved into the rock face. Tracing her fingertips over the glassy cave walls to guide her way. The heiress' steps echoed her own. The sound of water lapping the rocks lured them on.

There was light ahead of them, reflected on the crystal blue waters, sending shivering beams of dancing light a net across this ancient haven.

The stairs ended on a lip, beneath which began a lake kept secret from the outside world. Clear, so that the ripples and patterns in the sand could be read from where they stood, but deep in that it may not have been possible for even an experienced diver to reach them. Fish came and went underneath where they stood. They had a moment until sunset, they could tell as on the far wall, feeding the lake with light, was a large crack, the sun directly behind it on the surface of the water.

This wasn't what caught their eye however. Amid the lake floated a wooden boat, anchored and tranquil, solitary and abandoned.

"It's beautiful," Asami breathed. Korra hummed in agreement. She could tell Kya she'd seen it, she thought, now it was time to get off this rock. But when she turned Asami had dropped her bag and peeled up her shirt.

When the heiress' green eyes clashed with her blues, she felt her heart jump. For once the storm in her eyes told Korra nothing, ordinarily she knew what every shade meant and how every pain could be salved. Right now it was too much to decipher through her own thrumming body and swirling thoughts. She might have asked what the heiress was doing then, but the answer came before she could.

"I didn't come this far to only come this far," Asami told her, shucking her shorts before stepping past Korra and diving into the sea. She barely made a ripple.

This was Asami's honeymoon, she remembered soberly, watching her glide deeper into the blue, she was not supposed to be here, seeing this. _No pretending, _she thought to her self, _no more pretending, _she added dropping her bag and pulling her own t shirt over head.

Back home, Korra wasn't used to swimming in salt water as warm as this. Taking the plunge in the ice was a challenge in and of it self, breaking it, bearing it, staying alive. Paled in comparison to what she was doing now. She stopped struggling, and let the tide of it take her.

The boat was bigger, and steeper, then expected. When she reached it, faster than Asami somehow who must've stopped half way to admire the view, she gripped the net draped over its side and let it be her anchor. Adrift alone on the edge of a boat she couldn't get on, feeling the heiress near, unable to bring herself to look at the threat she posed.

Korra was of two minds, the second she'd started to let her guard down her body flooded with this adrenaline. She'd let slip what she'd kept so close to her chest all these years and Asami hadn't hurt her, yet. It was amid contemplating this, she felt a cool hand pass against her shoulders. Flinching she lost her grip and replaced it with the edge of the boat that dipped.

"It's just me," Asami reminded her, reaching across her chest to tangle her hands with the net.

They floated, listening to the trickle of the boat settling.

"How do you feel?" Korra asked.

"Like nothing is fixed." Asami answered instantly. "What are you thinking?"

Korra stared at her, in her usual stoic way, this time her tan skin sparkled with the blue beneath them, refracted light painting her face and catching in those eyes of hers.

"Why were you staring at me?" she whispered softly, "That first night at Kya's"

Asami pursed her lips. Korra noted how her eye makeup had smudged a little, but her lips were just the same tinted rouge. She watched her face change, and all the words she wanted to say went unsaid behind her eyes. Korra adored the crease she got between her brows when she worried like this. This time she didn't move when Asami touched her, hand coming out of the water to trace her temple with her fingers once more, as she had that morning.

"I see you," she told her simply.

Korra let out the breath she was holding, shaking, feeling like she had received an exquisite punch in the chest.

"What are you afraid of?" Asami asked her softly, hand coming to rest on Korra's neck, thumb tracing the curve of her jaw.

The last brick of the last wall Korra had built to protect herself had just been decimated into nothing, and now there was nothing holding her back. The sea is still, yet a gentle push begins to close the distance between them, Korra feels Asami's ankle curl against hers under the water.

This time she's certain of it, Asami's eyes have dropped down to Korra's lips.

Asami's fingers knotted instinctively into her loosely tied up locks as Korra leaned in, letting one hand free of the boat as she mirrored Asami's hold on the heiress own cheek. The pressure of that first gentle kiss built quickly and Asami couldn't stop trembling with every press and touch. Korra seemed calm by comparison, every move in control of every second, she'd dreamed of this for every minute she was with her and it showed.

There was a lot Asami knew was true in that moment, she knew, as Korra angled her head and depended the kiss and her back pressed into the boat's side, that Korra had been keeping a lot from her. She also knew, on a grander, more permanent scale, that this was the final piece of the puzzle between them. She knew it as Korra's fingers traced her spine under the water, and the electricity gripped her whole body. She knew it as her lips slid over her hers and she felt a hunger to get closer and keep close every strip of her exposed skin against her own.

As the sun falls into the ocean, the only light there is comes from beneath them, neither can see it through closed eyes and racing hearts.

Suddenly, a long thick beat of a wing underwater sent them both reeling. Asami wrapped her arms around Korra and yanked her close, opening her eyes to see the new world they had just entered.

The sun had set, but the cavern wasn't in darkness. Pools of glowing blue particles of algae drifted at the edges of the water, and beneath them feasting, black manta rays with huge wingspans.

"_Korra-"_

_"I've got you."_

The soaring mantas dived and parried, meandering uninterested by the humans they'd just interrupted, and darting for the small fish illuminated by the natural lights.

Korra leaned back and guided Asami's hand from her chest to the net.

It was now with ease and grace the heiress pulled herself over the edge of the boat and inside, turning ready to pull the ice sculptor up behind her. The surprise with this boat was that it was mostly hammock, four posts spread to pin up a canvas, wide enough for two people. The pair lay across it to peek down at hunt beneath them.

Korra felt emboldened enough to take Asami's hand in hers as they did this. Asami felt emboldened enough to knot their fingers in response. When Korra smiled at her, it was a glorious mega-watt grin, that she hid a moment after by biting her lip. The weight of the guard she had kept up was lifted and Asami could cry as it showed.

"Korra?" Asami asked, Korra hummed in response, the heiress felt her own lips tug upwards into a smile, "Kiss me again,"

Korra knew she should ask all those questions now bubbling to the surface, but she had wanted this for so long, and wondered if she had actually slipped into a coma and ended up in a perfect world of her own creation.

Instead, as she moved Asami moved with her, sitting back on the flat of the bed. She placed her hand by her ribs, watching her chest flutter before meeting her eyes, she drew her fingers over her jaw, studying the reactions she got with every touch; the skipped breath, the pupils blown wide, the way she bit her lip as Korra's moved closer. Korra ran her thumb over that lip, gently coaxing them apart, and moved her own as close as she dared.

Asami let a whimper pass through her lips before tension broke with her resolve. Both hands behind the crook of her neck, tugging her the rest of the way. This time she took control, nibbling the sculptors' lip and scratching the base of her hair.

_Why am I here? _Korra felt a voice nag at the back of her head as Asami scratched it, _How much of this is real? _She added as Asami's lips gently soothed where she had bitten.


	10. Chapter 10

For all the fantasies she'd ever had, Korra never meant for it to happen. Asami was kissing back and if it was all she ever got she could die complete.

Asami finally let her hands wander from drying hair over the expanse of her chiseled back and up again over the jut of a glistening collar bone. Korra was kissing her - hard. She grabbed the heiress' wandering hands before they got any lower, pinning them on the tarp, entangling their fingers. Finally letting her lips roam, over the corner of her mouth, her jaw, suckling her pulse point in a way that made the heiress clamp her thighs over Korra's hips.

Asami moaned her name, biting her lips as she ached to have her hands back, but relished in the thrill of complete submission. It was only for a moment however, at the sound of it, Korra stopped.

She pulled back, hovering over the heiress in the glow of everything. She inspected her natural lips, freshly kissed and distinct bruising forming where Korra had sucked. Half lidded green eyes oozing with arousal, excitement and a smile that held the ice sculptor in place.

What Asami saw was a sight she knew would burn in her heart forever, Korra's intense eyes reflecting the light of the cavern back at her, her shoulders dotted with the bioluminescent algae glowing blue in patches over beautiful tan skin. She was other worldly, a glittering goddess with light pooling over her muscled shoulders, spattered over her abs and the small of her back.

"_We should talk about this._" Korra said, but it somehow seemed like a futile statement until Asami free'd a hand from her grip and cupped her cheek.

Asami pushed herself forward, straddling her lap as she clawed at Korra's back, returning biting kisses along the column of her throat. Victory was Korra's fingers toying with the string of her bikini top.

Asami couldn't help but roll her hips against her encouragingly, keening sound parting from the back of her throat. She was learning what Korra already knew, that kissing a woman was intense, and intimate, intuitive and soft. Korra knew where the exposed nerves where, where to bite and suck and kiss or even just give the lightest of touch, to have Asami's eyes rolling back.

Red bombarded their vision suddenly and the girls flinched apart at the sound of a megaphone siren. It wasn't the entirely romantic scene either of them had imagined, but they were thrown into it and under a spotlight with no where else to hide.

_"Not-newlywed couple!" _Joo Dee's voice rang out from the crack in the cave, small lifeguard boat jutting into its mouth. "_You've strayed from the tour! Are either of you injured_?"

"_What_?" Korra asked.

"No!" Asami protested gripping Korra's arm to stop her from retreating any further, she took her palm with both hands. "Korra stay with me."

Asami knew before Korra moved that she was retreating into her own mind.

"This place was supposed to be secret," Korra lamented simply, lower lip jutting out adorably.

"I_ love it when you pout,_" Asami meant to think it, but it seemed now was a time for the internal thoughts to air, and already she found herself stroking Korra's cheek.

If Korra was going to be wooed by the compliment, it was short lived, the Tour Guide's voice cut through the intimacy like shattering glass.

"_I repeat_! Are either of you hurt!" Joo Dee continued belligerently through the megaphone.

"No!" Asami called back, shielding her own eyes from the unnaturally bright lights.

"Swim to _this_ life boat! The tour is over! You must return to the island or you will be stranded for the night!"

"Why can't you come to us!" Korra snapped, glaring into the light, not caring for how it blinded her.

There was a pause before Joo Dee responded.

"_We cannot fit,_"

Korra huffed and rubbed her face harshly in her hands, trying and failing to absorb the impossibilities that had just occurred to them. When they were done _kissing _Korra had planned on confronting Asami, on having it out and dissecting every second they had spent together on this bizzaro archipelago. Being deafened, blinded and made dumb in quick succession was never on the itinerary, but now as she stood, and Asami peeled her fingers away from her face she gave pause to all her intentions.

Asami was being perfectly pleasant to her after she had kissed her, after Korra had had her lips on that gorgeous neck, and Korra's worst case scenarios had not come to pass. In fact, the heiress was being as affectionate and sweet as she had always been, except now it all made sense. It was then Korra knew that all she had been feeling, the intense romantic fixation with her best friend, was reflected.

The couple paused, and it was in this moment Asami watched Korra, she took in the way flashes of red washed her out and canonical blue made every angle of her body sing, how her eyes caught the light and glinted in her direction.

Asami wondered if she had broken her as she remained in her stillness as though waiting to be woken up from a dream.

"What do you say Korra? Rather spend the night here?" it was then Korra noticed Asami was tenderly running her fingers over the crevices of her hand, not quite taking it for herself, but there all the same.

Korra couldn't stop the look of conflict passing over her face. Her two minds pulling in opposite directions, what she wanted, what should be done.

"I'll go get the bags," She told Asami, looking away before diving in to the fray of benign mantas below them.

Asami watched her in the glow, getting further and and further away and hugged herself, standing on the edge of the boat.

Korra was swimming back, and as she carved through the water and looked ahead, she could see the tall silhouette of the woman she had just kissed on what had been their little oasis.

Sequential flashes burning the black outline of the woman she's adored all these years, even featureless Korra could tell she was tucking her hair behind her ears as she paced waiting for her.

Korra had stuffed their possessions into her well stocked drybag. Best-friend-Asami would have made humorous comments at her expense. Post-Kiss-Asami was tongue tied as Korra waited for her patiently in the water at the bow of the boat.

"Maybe don't jump." Korra told her, "I don't think they'd appreciate it,"

Asami dangled her foot over the edge, beside where Korra floated as she waited for the sculptor to guide her. She lowered herself with grace, all the while devouring the sensation of Korra's fingers skimming against her skin as she came down.

When the water was at her shoulders, that was when they were once again face to face. The conflict was still there, and as much as Asami wanted to kiss it away she knew it would only make it worse. She placed her hand on her arm and told her.

"We'll talk, okay?"

On the dark side of the boat they felt like they were once again in secret, and Korra was awash in a sea of her own, now scattered around them with nowhere to hide. She was lost by it, and liberated.

Wordlessly she drifted once again, and pressed a closed lipped kiss on her mouth just to be safe. Right then it was all she was certain she wanted.

"Asami," she was having an out of body experience as she whispered it. The carmaker pressed a soothing kiss back before balancing her forehead over hers.

"_Korra_," she responded, still scratching the base of her scalp, which she knew soothed Korra from giving years of comfort. "Just a moment," she requested in a whisper, preparing the emotions swirling in her chest for the best and worst possible scenarios.

Suddenly Korra hugged her tight, arms around her ribs, chin injected into the crook of her neck.

Korra felt a nudge on her elbow, and looking down saw much of the manta population had scattered to quieter places, bar one, huge shining diamond shaped porpoise staring up at them with curious eyes in the shade of their boat. The heiress flinched.

"These aren't _people eating _and or _stinging _mantas right?"

"What? No…These little guys are just friendly,"

"Little? Korra, h_e's the size of a boat,_"

It was true, for the tiny portion that came out of the water, below the surface was it's long kite like body waving at the edges, tail swaying gently with the current.

Asami clung to Korra instinctively, but Korra smiled and fed her fingers between the ones on her neck, and guided them over the beasts forehead. The slimy smooth head stayed still, but Asami swore she saw the bulbous eyes close slightly as the beast relaxed under their joint touch.

"_Lord of the Ocean,_" Asami recalled in a breath what Kya had once told them.

Joo Dee gave another unintelligible screeching demand in the distance, and it was enough to scare away their friend.

Korra huffed, exasperated, sparing a shy glance to Asami before pushing off the boat to swim around to the next one. Asami followed, once again slow enough to remain behind, once again admiring Korra as she skimmed the water as though born in it, but perhaps being less discreet about it.

When Korra turned on the surface of the life guard boat to pull her aboard she caught the heiress biting her lip post-trance from watching her climb above her.

Joo Dee intercepted them in a flurry of panic and paper work, practically yanking their hands to sign waivers that neither of them read or cared about. When she was done she had the presence of mind to give them towels to shoulder, and tried to conceal her rage at the two of them through a thin lipped smile.

When it was clear they were done here, Korra stalked off onto the bow of the boat that was now skipping over the open ocean. She sat on a bench and noticed the still glowing slime on her arm and swiped at it anxiously.

Asami watched her curiously, unsure as to how to proceed. There were many conversations to be had, she knew. Was she gay, or bi, or was this all just Korra, Korra, _Korra? _She'd settle for knowing simply where they stood. She had wanted Korra to kiss her, _desperately_, but in the aftermath where did it leave them, especially since Korra had been _such a great kisser. _Now all she knew for certain was she wanted it all again, and to continue from where they had left off.

"I'm sorry." Korra's voice broke her out of her stupor. Her blue eyes cut through the dark and gripped that exquisitely secret place in her chest.

Korra swung her leg on the bench to face her, and scooted back to give her space to sit with her. Asami let her speak rather than joining her.

"I let you get too far with him." Korra went on to admit, gaze steady, "I let my feelings cloud the way I saw your relationship and I couldn't see you needed me. I wanted to think you did but, I just couldn't. And then he hurt you." Korra chewed on her lip and let her gaze drop. "I'm just- _I'm so sorry, Asami_."

Already Asami could see a portion of the weight on her shoulders lift.

"You have feelings for me?"

Korra couldn't help the laugh that escaped her then.

"If it wasn't clear already."

Asami tightened the towel around herself before mounting the bench in front of her old friend.

"Is that why you stopped talking to me?" Asami asked, reaching forward delicately, fingers prone on Korra's, balancing and interlocked on the wood between them, "You didn't want me to know how you felt?"

"It's like coming out _plus_." Korra breathed, "and you looked happy."

"Looks can be deceiving," Asami muttered, "and Opal knows?"

"I mean-"

"I saw you two, whispering in the corner giving me side eye. You looked embarrassed, I thought maybe she was giving you gossip on me…how did she find out?"

"I-" Korra's throat seized, and she turned to look out onto the dark horizon. She'd kept this information locked in, and it was fighting to stay that way. "I came to see you with sketches, for your wedding sculpture. She got a hold of my notebook."

"Why what's in it?"

"Nothing bad!" Korra insisted, "Just alongside the professional, preliminary sketches was _you. A lot of you."_

"Was that the day you never showed?"

"I ran, _it broke me._" Korra recalled her first real world taste of exposure, the way her heart raced and palms mopped with sweat felt but a fraction to the way she was feeling now, under the full force of the naked truth and half naked Asami.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Korra lifted their twined hands, "I couldn't fathom telling you, because it meant I could lose you, and it is information you can never unlearn, and I could never deal with the _pity_ and the _regret_ and you were getting married so what was the point in any of it. We were destined to grow apart."

"Korra, look at me." reluctantly she did, "Does this look like destiny to you?"

Korra couldn't answer, because she knew what she wanted and the answer Asami expected to hear were not one and the same.

"What about you?" Korra accused, "you've been _all over_ me since we got here. What is this to you? A _rebound_? Am I a binky for you to suck on while you recover from being dumped?"

She hadn't meant to sound so harsh but the effect was clear, already Asami was rescinding her fingers into a fist between them.

"That didn't come out right." Korra admitted.

"No it's fine. It's fair." Asami scooped her hair back behind her ears. She turned away from Korra and started out as the black sea rushed out from beneath them. "I was so humiliated, and I was most worried about how people would see me being jilted as a sign of tactical weakness, not that I'd lost him. But this trip, it's like - my feelings have been switched back on. I'm looking back on my life with a _whole new _perspective. I can see you Korra for what you were for me and you're _perfect. I was so consumed with what my future was supposed to look like it didn't occur to me I could just be with you._"

She swiped the tears leaking from her eyes.

"I feel like such an idiot for not seeing it, and since I'm here and feeling all I want is you. To touch you and be near you and _talk to you. I could see you suffering and I couldn't figure out how to fix it."_

"There's nothing you could've done." Korra told her as she sniffed, rubbing circles between the taller woman's shoulder blades.

"Yeah, you're stubborn like that."

"What about him?" Korra asked the dreaded question, "if he were here now would you go back to him?"

"You want me to tell you he meant nothing?"

"A week ago you were marrying the guy, now you're telling me you could cut out all his pictures and replace him with me? And you're over it? At the flip of a switch."

"I-" Asami began, before stopping to search her feelings, this was Korra she was talking to, and whatever she told her next, she had to be sure about it. "I don't know. I don't know if I'm dissociating because I don't care about the life I envisioned for myself anymore- how psychotic is that?"

Korra remained stoic and silent, waiting for the _and, _the link back to her. As the moment stretched Asami reached back tentatively and squeezed her hands.

"All I know is I was broken, I was at bottom and now _I'm out. _And honestly you're the only person I can come out to. There's no-one else left."

"That shouldn't be a reason for this." Korra didn't pull away when Asami scooted closer, nor did she when the heiress placed a hand on her cheek.

"Shouldn't this?" Asami asked, thumb skimming an arc over her skin, tracing the edge of her lower lip. She watched as a sweeter kind of tension encompassed her best friend, her breath came out in shudders, and every part of her that Asami was touching was shaking with the thrill of it. Korra was alive and _living _beneath her touch.

Korra's hands gripped her arms firmly, blue eyes nearly black as the distance between them began to shrink.

The boat pulled into harbour without either of them noticing, however they were yanked out of their trance by Joo Dee screaming at the top of her lungs.

"The tour is over!"

Korra caught herself, and immediately ran the minutes of this meeting through her head as she stepped away and plucked their possessions from around them.

She needed to shower. She needed to think. But that didn't stop her from grabbing the heiress' hand and marching her off that boat straight to their hotel room.


	11. Chapter 11

Korra didn't speak but Asami knew her mind was racing. She led her through the catacombs of the hotel, swift as though she'd memorised the layout; twenty steps, turn left, thirty more, right.

Asami might have panicked at the disarming silence of it all, but something about the way Korra's fingers stayed entwined with hers soothed her as they moved. More than that, it was the fact that after everything she stayed with her when she could have bolted; it was a value in her that Asami had always cherished.

Her mind was thoroughly _in _these moments, which was refreshing after so many patches of disassociation. The devious part of it _wanted_ Korra, in every sense of the word and she felt the motherboard of it calculating in the back of her head. But Korra was no business deposition to be drawn and quartered, she wasn't an engine taken apart only to be improved in the repair, she was a relationship a lifetime in the making, and she knew every move _had to be the right one._

Korra let her go when they reached the door, and fumbled with the key. Asami reached tentatively for her hand to steady it.

It was then Korra turned to her, and Asami stepped into her space, one hand tracing her jaw, the other turning the hand that held the key in the door.

"Before we go in," Korra started, "I have to know what you're thinking." Korra felt her thumb soothing her cheek and tried desperately to keep her head straight.

"I _want_ this." Asami told her, conviction strong under Korra's gaze, "and everything that follows."

Korra couldn't help but question her dreams coming true. By this point Life had made a pretty harsh point of having danger, disappointment and disillusionment tucked around each and every corner, and her body and mind was already coiling ready to spring.

Still she felt every cell of Asami's skin beaming electricity into her body, her kisses, the gently ones the _hard _ones, tingling fiercely on her lips and aching to the point of agony to return them. Invisible scarring was left where her mouth and hand had touched her, scorched into the flesh as though licked by liquid sunshine, nourishing, ethereal, _magical_, but permanent and untenable all the same.

As quickly as it had all happened, the claws of _this_ were deep into her flesh, deliciously so, she knew it could be ripped away just as fast and chunks of her would inevitably be taken with it if it went.

She also knew she could leave this island, bleeding, lost and utterly alone and still have lived her best life possible. She was high from it, having fallen from the pedestal she kept herself on, hours later she was in free fall.

But she had to know the truth, she had to know the end of it, if she was about to hit the bottom and be decimated, or if Asami could catch her before she did.

_No pretending._

"You said you weren't connected to what you wanted before you came here," Korra picked her words carefully, already Asami was receding from her.

"So what are you saying? That what I'm feeling now is invalid?"

Doors opened and closed in the corridor behind them and Asami flinched. Korra's eyes softened, her heart gripped tight in this vice of her own making. She shoved the door of their room and stepped forward, taking Asami by the wrist and leading her inside.

The room was dark and still seemingly empty. A single beam of twilight lit the carpet before the beds, not quite meeting its mark. The two of them huddled in the doorway, barely touching and unwilling to move.

Korra had something to prove, she had to know that they were safe, else plan and attack the sea of problems, but right then she just felt so weak.

"Kissing you was everything to me," she breathed, eyes watering as she smiled at the memory of it, "I can't lose you, and I've been so used to the idea that I might…don't you see I have to fight for this?"

"What would make this easier for you?" She looked down at the ground, and away from Korra, "That we met some other way, that we _kissed, years ago?_"

Korra snatched back her hand and held it tight.

"I regret not telling you. _Every day_ I wish I'd told you, but having you in my life was always more important than losing you because of a _crush_."

Asami swiped at her escaping tears, cupping her cheeks, consoling her with her eyes and hands and _voice, _Korra felt her resolve melt even more.

"_Sure we wish things were different," _Asami urged her_,_ "people wake up with a list a mile long for the way their day should go, but it doesn't matter what we want, in the end we know that we could only be happy with the things we need."

Korra regarded her, and her earnest reply silently in the moments that followed, before taking a breath, and asking quietly, in a husk of a voice, full of hope.

"What do you need to be happy?"

"You."

Asami guided her mouth instantly over Korra's, cupping her chin and pressing her into the door, closing it. Korra reciprocated, carding her fingers through Asami's silk locks after dropping their possessions on the ground.

Every doubt in her mind was quashed with a kiss, every question forgotten at the sensation of Asami's fingers titillating her bare skin. Korra's leg came up to brace herself against the wall, and Asami had the instinct to bring her knee up into the space laid bare between them. Korra moaned, and felt her eyes roll back as Asami angled her kiss on her throat, biting, raising her leg ever so slightly.

"_I-" _Korra jolted. Asami pulled back immediately, only to have her hands intercepted by the ice sculptor.

"Too much?" Asami bit her lip, feeling her heart beat thrum wildly in her chest.

"Just, too soon, maybe." Korra breathed, she braved eye contact, but only after a moment, "I liked it," she assured her squeezing her hand and bouncing her eyes once again, "I liked it too much," she corrected.

All of Asami's blood and warmth rushed up into her head. She was utterly out of balance in this moment, and truly it was exquisite. It had literally been decades since Asami had felt a blush, nerves, _a crush _even. She laughed in a wet wad, transported by it, before she had turned her feelings off - she was a teenager, and being around Korra like this had allowed her to pick up where she left off.

Her feelings were live and _living, _and all signs pointed to the woman in front of her as being the source of it all.

"You can have boundaries Korra it's okay."

_"All these lines are blurring_," Korra blurted, "I had all these _rules _for myself," she looked down at their hands, playing with the fingers between her own, "You're tearing them all down for me."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be _it's hot." _she felt her face heat up, Korra felt emboldened enough to let their entangled fingers wander, tracing the silhouette of Asami's hips, "I want you."

Asami watched Korra's smile bloom and instantly wanted to kiss it, but as she got close she continued, "but I also want to shower…"

Korra melted as the heiress found her laugh again, instead of kissing her, she slipped her arms around her shoulders and buried her nose into her neck.

"Of course you do," she chuckled. She could taste the salt from the sea in every kiss, and up until now it had been a part of the back ground, _it's not the same as the salt I want to lick off her- _She felt her own ears heat up at the thought and leapt back, pursing her lips.

"You ok Asami?"

"_Mmhm_!" she squealed, subtly crossing her legs as she leaned against an armoire, "Go shower!"

_Ask to join her!_

"You've gone all red." Korra cajoled, barely containing her excitement.

"I'll tell you about it after." Asami whispered assuredly, nervously tucking hair behind her ear as her green eyes held her, drifting down and then back up, lips pursing as she did so.

Korra took a moment to imagine what Asami was thinking, what her expression meant. She took these thoughts behind the closed door of the bathroom, working hard to steady her heart beat as she slipped under the stream. All the glitter from the cavern drifted down her skin and swirled away into the drain, leaving behind only memories. Water in her hair once more she relived it, the way Asami's leg curled around hers, the way her fingers dug deep into her skin and carded through her hair.

She realised now there were noises the heiress had made she hadn't picked up on, her memory floated the sounds of her keening when Korra bit her lip into her periphery and the ice sculptor suddenly wondered why she ever left her in the next room.

It was when she had the towel wrapped tight around her chest she felt the nerves once more, she opened the door to find Asami shoving her suitcase under the bed. When she turned to saw her a flash of guilt passed over her eyes, but as Asami watched her gaze wandered and drank her in.

Korra breathed a sigh of relief to know that her attraction to her wasn't severed at the closing of a door.

Asami made a point to step close to her as she walked past, almost colliding with her before peeling away into the waiting warm shower, hesitating for just too long before closing the door behind her. Korra felt like she was understanding her actions on skype; after a five second delay.

She moved to dress, mind reeling, until a clump of red lace under Asami's bed caught her eye. She couldn't help herself, she bent to look. Poking from the poorly shut suitcase was a fine collection of silk and lace. Asami must've stockpiled before the wedding, never one to do anything half way. Korra couldn't bring herself to check for a whip and hand cuffs. Snatching shorts and t-shirt from her own case she dressed, furiously towel drying her hair.

Asami packed those things for Iroh. It seemed Korra couldn't have a moment without being reminded that he got there first, that his was the shadow she was suddenly living in. That, had he not stepped down, she may never have had her shot.

"What is it?"

She had been lost in her own thoughts she hadn't noticed Asami emerge, she'd taken her pyjamas in with her Korra noticed, a red slip and shorts, stunning. She stood in front of her and placed nimble hands on tense shoulders.

"Nothing," Korra lied, _So soon? _She berated herself. "Long day," she forced a smile, and wondered if Asami bought it before the heiress bent to her eye level and pressed a gentle kiss over lips.

Korra was sitting on the bed, and Asami placed a knee beside her, testing the waters. Korra put her hand over the crook of her thigh but didn't pull.

"_I think we should sleep separately._" she really needed to learn how to _not _blurt things out.

Asami schooled her features, but only after Korra had seen the hurt flash over her.

"Okay," she whispered.

"_It's just I don't want to rush into things_. I feel like if I'm pressed against you _again_ I might _rush." _Korra justified this horrible, horrible idea in a stream of consciousness debate, only to be confused when Asami smiled at her.

"Are you saying you want to go steady Korra?"

Just the sound of Asami saying her name sent the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

"I'm saying I want everything with you, not just your body against mine, saying dirty things and being the sexy gorgeous goddess that you are," Korra surprised herself as she clapped back, tucking Asami's silk locks behind her hair as her green eyes widened, equally stunned, "I'm all about going slow. Trust me,"

Asami tried not to audibly gulp as Korra shuffled back onto her own bed. It felt like an eternity before the heiress realised those words had just come out of Korra's mouth, and how they had had entirely the opposite effect Korra had meant for.

"Good night Asami," Korra rolled over facing away from her, and Asami, disoriented and enthralled just about managed to slip in between her own cold sheets.

Korra always appreciated her ability to, in moments of high stress, completely shut down and sleep at the closing of her eyes. Asami, while looking after her all those years ago, had told her she was jealous of it. Perhaps this was why Korra dreamed of that time.

Asami would sit on her bed at her parent's place, stroking her hair, reading, and Korra would let the painkillers take her while her friend played with her hair absentmindedly. In the dream Korra looked up from the pillow, at Asami, her long neck, with a necklace Korra often dreamed of given her affixed to her throat, reading a book which had letters made out of hieroglyphs Korra couldn't understand.

The heiress never looked away from this as she whispered.

_"You'll lose me._" she told her matter of factly.

It was then Korra remembered how futile she felt back then, immobile and passive, trapped in a body she hated.

_"This'll never happen." _Asami assured her gently, combing her fingers numbly through Korra's long locks.

Korra tried to move her mouth, to form the words she wanted.

_It already has. _She wanted to scream it, but her eyes could only widen as she panicked, and the Asami of the dream didn't look her way. _Asami no._

_"Prove it."_

She couldn't be sure she heard it then. She jolted awake, clutching a pillow and sweating just a little, briefly kidding herself that it was the climate and not her fears coming to the fore.

"Are you mad at me?" Asami's voice floated her way, raspy and quiet. The difference was marked from anything she had said to her before, Korra had never heard her sound so tender.

Korra turned, and it was clear from how Asami had been lying, her expression and her hair still perfect, that she hadn't slept. The ice sculptor didn't answer.

"You said, _it already has, _and then, _Asami no._" she went on, green eyes never faltering, and utterly vulnerable then.

"I…" Korra trailed off, unable to begin to explain how she dreamed of her.

"You still sleep-talk." Asami told her simply. "You used to do it all the time when I took care of you."

Korra felt warmth bloom in her heart at the confession.

"I saw your lingerie…what you would've worn for…_him_. I guess it freaked me out."

Asami studied her, a mile away in the bed across from her.

"You can't do this every time you're reminded of him." Asami told her, "I wont have you comparing yourself to him."

Korra didn't have anything to say to that. It felt like a ground rule she had to respect, but as of late it had become such a knee jerk reaction to her. It was a standoff that almost became an impasse, as the old friends stared at each other with a wealth of emotions passing from their eyes alone.

It was something heavy in Korra's chest that yanked her from her bed then. Asami pushed her head up from the pillow and scooted back, and soon enough Korra was back where she belonged and landing mouth first onto the corner of Asami's lips.

The heiress took control, turning her so her ankles locked with her own and chest came pressed against hers.

Korra hadn't meant to even kiss her, she wanted to give her the comfort Asami had given her time and again, but she was wound so tightly merely touching Asami in the most innocent of ways had her tilting headlong into the fray everything that was new and exciting between them.

It just happened, in the arms slipping around silk and fingers touching skin that was just too accessible and Asami's lips were just so ready and encompassing. Her hands were insistent, fingers twisting into her short hair and gripping the back of her neck.

Korra had wanted to say she didn't _need _lingerie impress, or lure or arouse her, but she couldn't even begin to attempt as Asami fed her hand into her shirt, veering between them, nails scoring gently over her abdomen.

Korra flinched, Asami had touched nerves for her and pleasure shot down between her legs that had her pupils blown wide and her lips give pause. There was a tense moment as they lay side by side, face to face, hips to hips, and lips spongey, on the cusp of something new and daring. Asami's nails traced up, up _up, _stopping only at the curve of no return. Korra's hand met hers through the shirt, not dismissive, but comforting.

Korra's breath fell out of her in pieces, ocean blue eyes meeting emerald green in earnest, before inclining her head once more and pressing a closed lipped kiss on her lips. Her hand freezing as Asami's moved up, cupping her breast, thumb tracing circle over a hardening nipple.

Asami watched her face change, her eyes roll back and flutter as she teased and plucked with only a thumb and forefinger. Marvelling that there was so much power in just two digits.

When Korra opened her eyes, she was someone else entirely, relaxed, at peace, in control. Korra gripped her hands suddenly and had them pinned on the pillow either side of her head, when one hand comes down, fingers pressing on her pulse point down until she's met with the red lace at the top of Asami's slip. She skilfully pushes it down, and suddenly her lips are burning on her skin and tongue teasing the peak.

"Ah!" Asami arches her back involuntarily at the move, left hand pinned by Korra's, right clawing at her shirt. She pushes her so she sits, and wordlessly has her peeling it off. Asami drinks her in, framed in this light, in her nudité, does she notice just how hard Korra's body is, allowed to finally appreciate it she lets her fingers wander over the expanses of skin that are new to her.

Korra kisses her, hands framing her face in her distraction before teasing the hem of her slip, and dragging it up. When Asami is free of it she takes her turn, caresses the exquisite inches of skin she'd never seen before, before laying her back against the pillows. Her hand stopping over her collar bone before guiding her mouth under hers. _We were friends once, _she thinks as Asami's blunt nails scratch against her shoulder, _now look at us. _

The idea of it fills her with euphoria, emboldened and drunk from the last minute or so, she finds her fingers teeming into Asami's shorts, pressing them down gently. Asami presses her forehead against hers at the sensation of it, her eyes flashing a plethora of emotions that heretofore had been silent, nervous, lustful, and something else, something Korra even then couldn't bring herself to believe.

She didn't have time to voice her questions however; Asami had pulled the shorts away and flicked them from her ankles with a graceful kick.

Korra's heart beat heavy in her head, she was sure her whole body was moving with it as her hand moved down, following a path from Asami's throat, between her breasts, the line of her stomach, teasing a thatch of black before skipping straight to a milky thigh. Korra watched her carefully, and Asami did the same, her brows arching, biting her lip, cheeks flush as she held her breath and waited, patiently, for Korra to move her hand just an inch or so to the right.

She whimpered gently as Korra's lips ran over the soft blade of hers, and Asami's hand formed an urging claw within the knot she had claimed already. Her arms, her stomach, her legs, though parted, were all riddled with tension as Korra's index fingers ran tiny circles over her skin. Asami felt like she had breached the top of an encompassing wave, the moment Korra's middle ran the length of her soaked cunt, taking a deep breath before pressing her mouth eagerly against the lips of her saviour.

Korra dipped her finger into the beginning of her entrance, just enough to take the slick moisture there and spread it lovingly over her clit on which her thumb found home, rubbing gentle circles. Breathless, Asami absorbed Korra's skill with just two fingers, lips forming an 'o' and eyes slamming shut and she gently started to rock her hips encouragingly. She moaned when she realised Korra was holding back, and when she opened her eyes she realised she had been waiting to look into them, before angling her wrist, two fingers slipping easily into her centre.

Each time Korra changed their position surprised her, for now she was between her legs keeping absolute pressure behind her hand for Asami to ride upon, that coupled with her chest now pressing into Asami's, and her face being close enough to bite and kiss and lick the column of her neck.

Any worry that Asami wouldn't know how to be with a woman is simply cast away as she cards her fingers through Korra's hair encouragingly, as sweet pleading and keens and promises fall from her lips.

Asami knew a plethora of women had come before her but as she lie there being skillfully, exquisitely and utterly _fucked _by her best friend she thought selfishly that it had all been training for her. She would have berated herself for being absurd if her orgasm didn't wash over her then, Korra's teeth gently biting her nipple as her body wracked and shook with the weight of it. She hadn't realised she'd been screaming Korra's name until she returned back into her melting body and her voice had become hoarse with it.

Korra was still inside her as she came to, playing, learning as she twitched and fluttered around her fingers. Those stoic blue eyes studying her face to see exactly what was what. Asami didn't have time to be embarrassed about it as she was buffeted by a second exquisite orgasm. The surprise of it had her neck arching back, head charging into the pillow as her brain decidedly forgot which was up and where was down.

"_Korra_," she whispered it this time, tenderly combing her fingers through that hair as her legs came up and curled around her. It was then the fingers left her, and again Korra waited for her to open her eyes before licking the residue from her fingers. When she was done she whispered.

"You got another one you 'Sami?"

The mere sight of it gave the heiress goosebumps, and it seemed only right to cup her jaw and kiss her fiercely after such a gesture.

It was then Asami remembered her martial arts training, and as bizarre as that sounds, she was grateful for her ability to roll and get the upper hand over Korra right then, kissing her all the while.

Korra's laugh was everything to her then. Spurred on by the joy emanating from her sparring partner, she continued the trail over her throat, her chest.

Korra stopped chuckling and took in a sharp breath when Asami dragged her up and had her thighs balanced over her shoulders.

"Asami-" she began gently, only to be stopped by Asami's intense warning glare. She didn't have to do this, but god did Asami want to.

_I've read romance novels, _the heiress thought confidently, _the rest should be easy. _

She pressed nurturing kisses to Korra's thigh and the ice sculptor held her breath. Reaching only to stroke the locks of hair she could reach and twirl around her fingers. Asami reached up with one hand and slotted her fingers between Korra's, a gesture that had Korra's weak heart thrumming with affection, before teasing her fingertips into Korra's slit. She found the entrance and was surprised by how _different it all was,_ and how utterly perfect it felt.

Korra keened and tightened her grip, free hand gripping the bars of the bed above her, as Asami's thumb found her clit, and fingers hooked instinctively to that front wall, fluttering and pressing with increasing pressure. She didn't need to ask if it was good, she could tell by the sound of her moans. It was when her tongue replaced the thumb, that where she was overwhelmed her, she musky taste of Korra, her best friend, shuddering under her touch and tongue and fingers. Korra's hips cantered and it reminded her to focus. Moving her tongue,

"Oh _fuck_," Korra moaned.

She remembered the shapes encouraged by her studies.

_A, B, C D_

_"O fuck o fuck!" _Korra repeated, using her grip on the head of the bed to push down harder onto Asami's fingers and mouth.

_E F G-_

_"Uh! There!"_

_G -G -G _Asami did as she was told, and almost instantly was rewarded for it. Korra's body pulsated above her, her voice pealing into such a sweet sound that Asami knew she had to hear it again.

It was only when Korra let go of the bed and tugged her up by her hand that she stopped. Korra lay her on the bed beside her, a reflection of how she had entered the bed what felt like hours ago. Korra twitched, pressing her lips together and shutting her eyes as Asami was inside her still, playing with her and stroking her just for the love of it alone.

She stopped her ministrations with her hand on her wrist, breathing heavy, skin glistening.

"Asami?" Asami barely heard her, she was eying her sweating collar bones hungrily, deciding which she would lick first.

"Hmm?"

"What did we just do?"


	12. Chapter 12

If there was one thing Asami knew about giving Korra affection; was that resilience was key. The ice sculptor needed those two palms framing her face, telling her it was all true.

The pair had matching personality disorders for the most different of reasons, but required perseverance in reflecting back more or less the same sentiments; you are loved by me if no one else. It had recently come to mean something more of late.

"What did we just do?" Korra struggled for breath as her body shook, skin spasming as it brushed over various parts of the woman in front of her, only intensifying her panic. She had ridden the experience as though it were a dream, totally absorbed in the high of it, and tempering the unique benefits of actually being able to touch, taste and feel everything that was happening.

Asami was rarely one to air her frustrations, but she was so utterly irked in that moment she felt she had no choice, palms to cheeks, chest to chest, she guided her mouth over Korra's once more. Faintly aware she tasted of Korra, who fortunately didn't seem to mind as her lips pressed fervently back.

"We," when they parted she began breathlessly, fingers tangled with Korra's hair, "are two best friends who just has sex, for the first time." she decided clear and matter of fact was best for such a tentative situation.

"You went down on me." Korra's voice went up an octave as she babbled.

"I did," Asami confirmed.

"Your first time with a woman?"

"Yes, Korra!" Asami couldn't help how her smile beamed as she watched her best friend's face turn through the tides of confusion and joy and an adorable mix of the two.

"Did you MMA roll me earlier?"

"I had to get you on your back somehow."

"I was defenceless!"

"I wanted to taste you - and you'd just fucked me!"

"That's not fair." Korra pouted before reclaiming her grip over Asami's wrists, suddenly but Korra was over her, lips brushing her jaw, "I dreamed of tasting you first."

Korra could forget how she ended up here, that it wasn't exactly how she'd imagined or that Asami hadn't been launched here by the actions of an idiot ex fiancé, she could forget anything that wasn't Asami's nipple in her mouth, the slope of her abdomen beneath her tongue and the brush of her thighs opening for her, long fingers carding encouragingly through her hair.

Korra had a visceral understanding, that she wanted nothing and no-one else ever again, and that this, this was paradise. Asami let out the breath she'd been holding upon Korra's descent, tied with it a keen and Korra knew without looking she was biting her lower lip. Korra was inside her, tongue circling between expertly over her clit, and before Asami could muse on the irony of having this person in front of her all along she was squirming with delight, riding her face.

Korra felt the ridges of her G spot under her fingers and she rounded on it, Asami was shuddering, clenching, and soon enough her orgasm wracked through her body. Korra held tight and soon enough a second fell through her, unprepared she cried out, nails scratching Korra's head as she clung to her anchor. Korra didn't leave her even when her tongue did, and Korra angled her kiss over her throat and suckled, Asami hope she was leaving a mark as she clawed at her back.

Deciding their tryst was thus far unbalanced, Asami angled her hand to pleasure Korra, she felt her lips slow for but a moment as her fingers rushed past her soaked entrance. The angle wasn't as successful as Korra's however, but as she played Korra's fingers pulled out a third and fourth toe curling orgasm.

Her skin was sheathed with sweat, and her hips ached from the contorted pose she found herself in, leg hooked high over Korra's arm, the hand of which was three fingers deep with no plans to stop. Any other person she'd say she was done, she was ready to bask, but for as long as she'd known Korra she'd been holding back, and she was more than a little curious to see how far she was willing to go.

Suddenly, Korra mimicked her earlier move and rolled her, making use of those impeccable abs and core strength to have Asami pressed against her head of the bed straddling her lap, all the pressure building just as Korra held her over her fingers, teasing the valve there. Asami twitched as Korra stroked, hands pressed tight over her back as she gathered her breaths and kissed those petal lips. It was almost innocent given the setting. Korra had switched hands and held her with her right as the left slipped inside her, using what she'd learned to have those hands turn to claws on her back. Asami's neck arched back, and as she ground onto Korra's hand she realised - this was the exact position she had envisioned at Kya's house, right down to the other woman sucking her breast.

She saw white when she came that time, and left her body, swearing she could see Korra lower her onto her back and worry over her the split second before she returned.

"Asami?"

"Nngh," She moaned, feeling limbs returning to life one by one.

"Are you okay?"

"…Fucked ..brains… out…" Korra laughed, that beautiful delicious, free laugh, Asami reached blindily for it, and felt Korra kissing her palm, "Gimme a minute."

"It's ok… I know I went a little overboard."

"You call that many a little?"

"I mean seven, maybe."

"Eight," Asami corrected her, "It's was eight times." She opened her eyes, and Korra almost looked nervous at the sight of them. Wordlessly she climbed over her, Korra took her weight gratefully, cheek to chest, arms tucked behind her back and into the bed. Asami could feel the pull of sleep taking her already, and pressed against Korra this way, safe and comforted.

"Asami?"

"Hmm?"

"What does this mean for us?"

The electricity in Asami's brain had only half been turned on by this point, in fact it was being turned off after such an extreme power surge. She might have measured the balance of her words before she answered.

"We'll always be best friends Korra," she meant it in a secure way, secure in the way Korra held her and her arms and legs encircled her in that moment, "No matter what happens,"

How could she know the way Korra's heart plummeted to earth in that moment.

Korra lay awake after that, clutching Asami close. How could she not? If she fell asleep now could she wake alone, her life up until this moment a hollow dream. She needed the beauty of it, the depths of which consumed her like water. Asami was an ocean of bliss billowing above her. Her fingers curling through dark hair, her warm breath seeping into skin she had heretofore never seen and the heiress' hand just gripping her forearm for longer than she ever had prior.

She should have doubts, the words best friends were rattling around her thoughts, still, having her against her soothed her. More than that she was so used to being agitated, her caged feelings circling in her psyche as she fell deeper in love with her best friend day by day, now stunned in the face of freedom, only to find she was in the woods. A new set of anxieties prowling in the dark edges of her vision.

She stared up at the ceiling for an unaccountable amount of time, she did note however the shadows of the sconces had shifted with the waning moon. The sweat that had peppered their skin had dried and Asami was starting to stir, feet rubbing more consciously against her own.

"You're not sleeping," Asami chided in a sing song whisper, straddling the lands of living and dead.

"How can I?" Korra's go to response was sarcasm, "There's a beautiful woman on my chest,"

Asami reached up blindly, fingers brushing over lips but seemingly finding a higher target; the bridge of Korra's nose.

"Go to sleep," she commanded, in a mumble that was accented by an involuntary adorable pout.

Her deft fingers stroked from the tip of Korra's nose to between her eye brows, up and down, and Korra marvelled at how immediately it had an effect on her. As Asami moved her fingers, she might've remembered how when she was injured her parents did this for her, silent ancient wisdom in getting baby Korra to sleep, but right then all she could feel was the bloom of affection spill over her body as she relaxed under her.

Noticing the change Asami stopped and tucked herself back into Korra's arms, and only after hearing a smeck,

"Did you just kiss my forehead?" she enquired, to which Korra couldn't bring herself to reply, "Oh yeah, you're fucked."

Korra felt a laugh fall out of her, but she was already fading in the morning light as only sleep and Asami shrouded her.

Hours later, the pair were woken rudely by the hotel telephone.

Korra could hardly fathom a lot of what was happening to her then, Asami naked against her sleeping peacefully, and suddenly at the ringing of those shrill bells she was snatched away.

The heiress picked up.

"What time do you- oh, the sunrise bruncheon right, that seemed like a good idea when I saw it… No we wont be coming." Korra lifted herself up onto her elbows, brain catching up slowly that it was Asami's perfect ass she was staring at and not a mirage she'd made up herself. "No more wake up calls ok? Can you put me down for that? Great, and on second thoughts," she braved a look back to Korra and tugged her lower lip between her teeth, "we're going to need the big bed back,"

Whatever was being said on the other line didn't deserve much of a response as their eyes locked. Asami politely hung up the phone and yanked the cable from the wall.

"There," she said simply.

Asami launched herself back into the bed as though stung by the cold. Her aim was perfect, Korra was coming to learn, kissing her hard on reentry. Korra took her in, still reeling waking to this.

"Morning breath." she complained when they parted, smiling despite it all.

"Sorry," Asami blushed averting her gaze, following instead the finger that traced Korra's arm watching the down stand up there, "You're just exciting."

"Wait," Korra adjusted them, Asami's hair billowing on the pillow beneath her as she pressed a kiss to the heiress' throat, "I have a work around," she explained.

Her cognisant brain caught up to her mid kiss, tasting the collar bone jutting just there. Reality was a potent mix of salt from perspiration and a sweet unexplainable flavour that came from Asami herself. She felt Asami's long fingers curl back into her hair at the base of her head, gentle and timid as she absorbed every inch of her friend against her.

"What are we doing today?" Korra asked between kisses, pressing a hard one between her breasts while her fingers tugged the duvet an inch or so lower so they could play over her abdomen.

"Uh," Asami opened her eyes only to close them again, fighting her own internal battle to recognise dreams and reality, "We had a brunch but I cancelled it,"

"Good," Korra approved, "What else?" Asami's legs were opening beneath her, the heiress not completely aware of the change herself as her grip on Korra's hair and the bed beneath her tightened.

"There was…a play, Ember Island Players play."

"Mmhmm," Korra was nibbling over her ribs and didn't lift her head to reply.

"I can cancel it,"

Korra didn't respond, she was at her mark, and Asami was experiencing deja vu of hours before, only this time with warm daylight pouring over them. All her brain managed to conclude was that Korra was a fast learner, because she certainly knew how to get her toes curling, and to have her back arching.

She made a noise behind pursed lips as though trying to keep her orgasm a secret, but Korra knew from her clenching fingers and body juddering against her mouth.

Asami pulled her up before she could put her through another without thanking her. Korra kissed her hard before Asami attempted to roll her again, but Korra remained firm above. When she pulled back, looking into those puzzled green eyes she asked again the question that had doused her like icy water when she was finally capable of thinking.

"What does this mean for us?"

Asami cupped her neck and traced the tense muscles at the base of it.

"You keep asking that question right after I've come, and I'm telling you I can't think right now."

"I'll give you some space then." Korra tugged away but Asami tugged her back.

"No, just wait." Asami closed her eyes and made a show, mostly for herself, of imagining switches and flicking them on, cognitive thinking - check, emotional maturity - check, libido off … licking her lips she tasted herself and could feel her pupils dilating at the thought. Not check.

"I think it's clear there's some feelings," she surmised, bringing her feet up on the mattress by bending her knees, firmly fitting Korra's hips between them, "Wet being one of them," she sighed biting her lip at the sensation.

"Asami-,"

"It's a process!" she defended, "we're sexually compatible, is all I'm saying. It's good, it's a good thing!" mindlessly her hands had been tracing the curve of Korra's back, settling on the dimples at the base of her spine and finding circular motions most satisfying.

Korra smiled despite herself.

"I'm good at sex and obsessed with you so-"

"It's charming that you're trying to out-logic me on something like this," Asami's nails scraped her hips and shivers coursed up her spine, just like she knew it would, "I see you, Korra," she reminded. Asami tried something bold, something she had yet to attempt, she lifted her lips and held them a breath away from Korra's, she watched the deep changes flutter to the surface and distill into her gaze. There was love there, Asami knew it, but Korra was resisting kissing her.

Korra pressed her forehead into the pillow beside her head.

"I need you to be honest with me." she told her, "I can't have you sparing my feelings if you think this is a friends with benefits thing-"

"I don't!" Asami turned gently, laying parallel with her, coaxing her to look her way.

"You know when people have affairs and say it just happened, like this could be an accident as simple as spilt milk or a car hitting you, is this one of those times?"

"You think eleven orgasms just happen?" Asami laughed.

"I mean it doesn't make sense but people have affairs for years,"

"This is not an affair." Asami knotted their fingers between them and clung to them.

"I have to admit, I always thought if there was a chance of this happening it would be us having an affair," Korra mused, face stoic in that way that Asami found impossible to read.

"Extra marital or, did you hope you'd pluck up the courage to tell me before I made that mistake?"

For a second Asami thought she looked stung, but it passed quickly, Korra cupped her neck and kissed her lips in response, to her, it, she didn't know.

When she pulled back she whispered.

"I'm here now."

Asami responded in kind, hooking her hand behind her head and kissing her back firmly.

"I know."

"So what now?" Korra pressed.

"You keep asking me, but I'm taking my cues from you." Asami told the twirling strands of hair framing her temple around her finger, "maybe you keep asking because… you're not sure."

Korra felt cold in her stomach.

"I can't lose you," she reiterated.

"Good, that's something we have in common." Asami smiled at her and an inch of the warmth returned. Korra didn't know her eyes started leaking until the heiress stemmed the tears. "Hey," her voice was so soft and gentle Korra felt them flow harder, "We'll always be best friends. This is just a new phase of that."

Korra studied her, blue eyes shifting categorically over every inch of her face.

"Do you remember what I told you when we fought each other at the state champion ship final?"

Korra didn't have to think for the answer.

"Best friends comes first," Korra recited, she thought for a moment, and as she did she ran her thumb over Asami's cheek and traced her lips."I feel like if we end up just fucking this is all this will be,"

"But I love you already," Asami blurted this time, and the pair of them felt their hearts stop.

"Are you in love with me?"

Asami didn't know how to respond to that, of course she loved Korra, but had only seen her as a romantic partner for a hot minute, how could she say was the difference was?

"I think-"

"You need time," Korra finished her sentence, it gave the heiress chills that she was often able to do it, "to understand everything that's happening."

"Are we breaking up?"

"How was it you put it last night? Going steady?"

"Did you miss the part where I was inside you?"

"How hard is it to get a real date out of you Sato?" Korra jibed.

"I took you on vacation."

"Hmm sloppy seconds. Ow." Asami pinched her.

"That's what I'm going to do every time you refer to my ex, K, got it?"

Korra knew it was serious when Asami omitted letters from her name.

"Best friends come first," she parroted the earlier oath.

"What do you propose we do? I owe you a debt of about a billion orgasms."

"Let's just keep it a secret for now, at least from people we know, and forgo sex for… tradition dictates three dates?"

"After the way you just fucked me, you're saying you want no part in it until I wine and dine you?"

"I am a patient person Asami. I've waited for you once I can do it again."

Asami almost asked her to prove it but she knew it would mean the last time they shared a bed until three dates had passed, she wasn't ready to give it all up just yet.

"Can I kiss you at least?" Asami asked, already looking longingly at those lips.

"I think…" Korra began grinning tongue tempting her, teasing her top lip as she watched, "That would be agreeable yes."

"And as we've fucked today can I take the morning to please work off some of my debt?"

Korra only smiled and kissed her, but Asami took no prisoners when she went in for the kill.

Korra, like always, was powerless to resist.

Opal was doing just fine. Just fine.

Holy damn how does Asami deal with all this?

She'd taken helm for the first few days and all was well, but since the marriage fell through it had had a knock on effect in the press, and suddenly Future Industries stock was falling. She had taken the throne in Asami's work office, fine leather chair, mahogany desk and a claustrophobic amount of panic.

She'd been avoiding calls all day, but it just so happened the one she did take wasn't a business call at all.

"Opal?"

Her blood boiled at the voice, she took a moment to begin a fiery tirade of that would scorch the earth, but was interrupted.

"I know I'm the last person you want to hear from right now but hear me out."

"Go to hell Iroh!" he threw me off!

"I was an A-class Asshole, Opal I know. I feel awful, but I've been in therapy."

"Oh therapy? Oh good for you except your feelings don't matter, not when you're the one doing the dumping!"

"I deserved that. She deserved better. Can you put her on the line please?"

"She's not here!"

"When will she be back?"

"In three weeks, so you can shove it till then, why am I talking to you? Gubye!"

"Three weeks? Did she- did she take our honeymoon?"

"Not that it concerns you any more. She's healing, she needs to get over the mess you've made!"

"Oh man - I gotta go to the island - I'm gotta to win her back."

"Yeah there's like a zero percent chance of that ever happening, so,"

Opal hung up. Blood pumping, mind racing. She had to warn her friend, she had to warn her other friend who was in love with the first friend.

She did the only thing she could think to do in that moment, and called Bolin.


	13. Chapter 13

Korra tended to measure life events with the insignificant moments that surrounded them, like frames to photos, she accented her strongest memories with the simple, modest actions that preceded them. In retrospect she always wondered if even a tiny decision could have made a difference, but mostly when she looked back, she looked for the signs that the inevitable was obvious. It was a form of self torture that she whipped herself with constantly.

Could she have known she was about to be hit by that car T-minus two hours before, when the lace on her sneaker broke and she took ten minutes to thread another?

Could an earlier bus,T minus one hour and thirty minutes, missing her stop instead of stepping off T minus forty five, or even waiting a little longer for the barista to steam her coffee, T minus four minutes and thirteen seconds, have made any difference? She remembered how the cold splash had doused her wrist that day, when she and the driver met, as the bonnet of his car collided with her hip, head and legs in quick succession.

Could she have known from that slightly inconvenient sign that the day would end with her fighting for her life.

As was her practice, searched for signs in her memory of hiking Mt Makapu, of shirking Asami's touch, that she'd be sleeping with her for the first time a mere six hours later.

No, she thought, she had been so busy in the present keeping tight vices on her cards that once again she had forgotten to look ahead, and would miss the fate train headed right for her. Paying no mind to the hand she was about to deal herself.

As she lay there in silence, Asami doing nothing more than combing her fingers through her hair, and arranging the locks of it into a plait, parting, turning, twisting and gently tugging at it in a move so intimate Korra was reminded of what came after those big moments.

Waking up in the hospital those years ago, encased in casts top to toe, she remembered the exquisitely surprised face of the nurse who encountered her.

"Look at you you're beautiful!" the stranger told her scrambling with her pen light, beaming, gripping her fingers, before shining a bright orange light in her eye. She hadn't meant it in any flirtatious way, and Korra knew not to take it that way although it filled her chest with pride at the sheer purity of it. She hadn't seen herself but it was then she was sure she was going to be okay. It could have also been the morphine.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Korra couldn't.

"What about your parents?"

Again nothing.

"A phone number?"

Korra rattled out eleven numbers with barely a thought. Less than an hour later Asami came running through the door, pale face whiter than Korra had ever seen. She couldn't remember her own name, but the accident made no difference to the memories encoded into her worthless heart.

Through the crying and hand holding and assurances that her parents would be coming soon, Korra managed to relay that she was hungry, and the apple slices Asami fed her were the sweetest she'd ever tasted in her life. Memories returned to her, but she couldn't recall birdsong ever sounding more like a symphony. Even rain sent her senses glittering with sensation.

In the present, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky, each scrape of Asami's fingernails against her scalp had her body singing.

"Are you asleep?" Asami asked her when she'd finished the weave, opting now to simply stroke the soft loose locks she could get her hands on.

"Basking," Korra answered softly, placing her fingers encouragingly over Asami's on her head.

"Do you remember when you were in the hospital, I was the first person you called?"

Korra opened her eyes but chose not to mention she had also been thinking back to that very event.

"I couldn't remember my own name." she recalled, "it was like trying to come up with a new colour."

"You remembered my phone number…the nurse called me and I had forgotten to call you that morning. All I could think would it have made a difference."

"You can't-" Korra began to chide but was interrupted.

"You couldn't remember your own name but you remembered my number, not your parents, not Mako or Bolin, just mine…" she trailed off, letting the notion of it all sit there between them, slowly Korra was pushing herself up by her elbows, blue eyes boring into hers, stoic and contrite. "I never questioned it till now, but it made sense to me and I never questioned that either, makes a different kind of sense now."

"Post coma brain is a bit like drunk brain," Korra defended, still instinctively on the run for a comfortable hiding place, "I was basically drunk-coma-texting you to come pick me up, I've broken my femur, bring snacks."

"You loved me then."

"I fell in love with you when you broke my nose." Korra surprised herself by the confession, and watched as the honest words moved through Asami's body. First touching her lips, then coursing down her shoulders and into her chest, Korra swore she even felt a twitch in the hips beneath her own. "I remember looking up at you and knowing that was the moment it all changed." she cleared her throat and looked down, "It took me a few years to figure it out though,"

"I-"

"Don't…Don't say it unless you know you mean it."

"How can I not?"

"Just, I need you to be sure, three days and this night alone…I can't trust it."

"Korra,"

"Please," Korra pushed forward and pressed a kiss on her lips. "give it time."

Asami's expression remained schooled as she thought about it all, searching her feelings for what the differences could be. She loved Korra, she would take the time to make her believe it before saying it. Instead she tried to express what she was feeling into the following kiss, tilting her chin up to keep her mouth firmly against her.

When she moved away she moved all the way, leaving the bed and pulling her case from under her own.

"What are you doing?"

"It's been four days and I've done no training - I need to run." Korra tugged a sports bra over her chest and immediately Asami thought that was a crime, "Care to join?" the ice sculptor look back at her, and Asami could only give her narrowing eyes.

"I'm going to masturbate while thinking you, care to join?"

Korra felt her jaw drop and face redden, she froze and tensed at the sheer vulgarity of it.

"We just had sex! A lot of it!"

"Isn't that all the exercise you need?" Asami reasoned pressing her bare chest to Korra's back as she wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"C-Cardio,"

"We could do it standing up?" the heiress offered pressing teasing kisses along the column of her neck.

"Physio," Korra managed, "I have to do the stretches and sprints, or I'll go back to the way I was." she reasoned, less and less convinced the higher Asami's mouth reached, her teeth nibbled the crux of her jaw when she let go with a wet pop.

"Okay, fine." she lay on her side on the bed "if you can live with yourself." she reasoned. Korra looked back at her eyes wide, questioning everything.

"Come with me?" she offered, blinking with one eye as the image of Asami's breasts burned into her memories. Asami might have told her how she never exercised on vacation, except the expression on Korra's face deserved a certain type of teasing.

"Are you thinking about the quintessence of life or should we take a picture so it'll last longer?" the heiress teased.

"Uh-"

"Go Korra, we'll shower when you get back."

"We?"

"Did I stutter?"

"But…" Korra remembered vaguely their agreement, when the first time was over (which admittedly had many sessions, sleep in-between and an unaccountable amount of climaxes), no more sex until three dates, it seemed reasonable at the time, but looking at her now, she couldn't help but imagine playing with those nipples under the stream.

"Hurry so you can get back!" Asami complained, covering herself and breaking whatever spell she'd cast but only slightly, Korra had to drag herself away from getting lost in her eyes next.

She pulled on her shorts looking anywhere but, and a vest with wide open sides that showed off her exquisite arms.

She almost head out of the door without another word, and what a tragedy that would've been if Asami hadn't stopped her. Not bothering to get dressed she caught her elbow and kissed her hard, and Korra was so distracted by it she didn't notice the heiress tying her hair up for her.

"You forgot to tie it," she explained simply, cheeks splashed with rouge as Korra grinned dumbly down at her.

"Thanks Asami." she whispered to her, making sure to kiss her cheek before leaving her alone in the hotel room. It was an entirely different feeling to the last time.

Korra's life was flashing before her eyes as she ran, she made it through to her teens before she recognised she had lapped the resort twice and was now at the entrance of the lobby. She needed a drink and remembered the bar was all inclusive for guests.

She was taking long draughts of water from the glass, letting the cool drown her racing heart. Running helped her process things, she made some of her better decisions with 100 percent of her blood passing through her brain and her muscles working in perfect unison. After the night she'd had it felt like a victory lap. All these thoughts were exquisite and heartwarming, yet a cold chill ran through her spine, and she realised it was because a voice had pricked her ears.

"What do you mean she changed the room? Where did she go?" Korra stopped mid gulp to listen.

"I'm sorry sir, but guest information is kept with the strictest confidence," Korra recognised the second voice also, it was Joo Dee, the tour guide who had seen them kissing in a secret cave, and seen them leave their unofficial rescue hand in hand the night before, "and I'm sure Miss Sato wouldn't want me giving you the room number. Given the situation, you can understand this is a complicated matter the hotel must remain in favour of our guests."

"I was the other guest meant to go with her - she took our honeymoon without me."

Korra's heart stopped when Joo Dee's eyes flashed her way, but it was imperceptible enough for Iroh not to notice.

"That being said," the hotel clerk kept up her trademark ear to ear customer service smile, "Your position was filled and we are fully booked…"

"Can you give me the number for her room phone then? This is important."

Korra knew she should stay, she should interject on Asami's behalf, maybe do some of the ass kicking herself, but the physical embodiment of Asami's past without her was leading her feet before she knew what was happening; she was sprinting to the hotel room from the outside.

She let herself in from the beach-side doors, when she did Asami put down her book and draped her legs over the side of the bed. She had put her nightgown back on, perhaps with the intention that Korra might take it off.

"I'll get the water running," she beamed excitedly, before seeing Korra's expression, "Everything okay?"

"I was worried," Korra breathed, "this would all be gone when I got back,"

"Hey," Asami kissed her, and something possessive in Korra kept her close against her, "You need this shower," she said curling up her nose.

"I just have to make a quick phone call." Korra forced a smile at her. "Date plans," she lied hating how easy it came.

"Okay," she said it with such trust, Korra knew she should tell her, but then she knew their honeymoon would be over, and things would become real very fast. She had no intention of lying or pretending anymore, but still, she needed to buy time and all she really wanted to do the second she saw Iroh was hold Asami.

Asami walked backwards into the bathroom, green eyes tantalising her the whole way as she teased the straps of her slip down her shoulders.

Korra plugged in the phone when she was sure Asami had turned on the water. Immediately it rang, and Korra wasn't surprised.

"Asami? Honey is that you? Listen to me I'm sorry- Let's talk."

"She'd forgotten you, Iroh," It was a visceral and dark place from which she spoke, empty of nothing else but the need to protect Asami.

"Korra?"

"Go home."

With that she dropped the phone back on its hook and unplugged it again.

"Did someone call?" Asami asked from the stream.

"Wrong number," Korra told her peeling her shirt over her head as she let the notion that Asami was hers wash over her. Of course she wasn't, Asami was a gorgeous shining star and she was a spec of rock graced with her orbit. She could love her fiercely, but there was no owning a star. Still as she stepped in the stream behind her, she wanted nothing more than to show her how she loved her, wordlessly and unconditionally. She kissed her back gripping her hips gently, her neck, her cheek, arms criss crossed over her chest and pressed her against her. Asami craned her neck back to kiss her but Korra only allowed a peck, lathering showergel into her hands, she caressed her back with it, her shoulders her chest, Asami caught herself in her arms, holding on only by the neck and hair, still tied up, that she could grip.

The heiress was stunned by it, the intimacy, as someone she had spent maybe the past twelve hours or so ravenously fucking, how gentle she was now being treated, and how overwhelming it all was. When Korra's fingers started running shampoo through her hair she was suddenly on cloud nine. She shut her eyes, and couldn't say how she remained upright because she felt like she was floating. Korra took the shower head and splashed the suds away, kissing where she'd cleaned. Asami felt surreal, her best friend conditioning her head and kissing her cheek.

Suddenly she found herself biting her lip to keep from crying. She tried not to, but she thought of how cold Iroh used to be, never venturing past the sex part of being naked and sharing in this.

"Are you crying?" Korra whispered after a moment, but Asami couldn't answer her, she couldn't tell her how screwed up her life had been for this to have such an affect on her, so she kissed her, took the shower head from her grip and told her.

"Your turn,"

"The Johnsons are done!" Jet crowed, drawing an 'X' over their room number on the white board map of the resort, "Mr J caught Mrs J screwing one of the surfers competing in The Aang"

"Who had Johnsons?"

"I did!" Mang chimed, waving her ticket high. "Room 2-0-3!"

The break room at Ember Island Hotel was a boring white room with lockers on one side, vending machines on the other, and a large collection of tables for the staff to lounge, if not uncomfortably, during their downtime. It started when three bus boys in the hotel starting keeping tabs on the couples who split on their honeymoon, with Ember Islands history of soul searching trips and quite frankly attractive residents, there was an unusually high number of divorces in this strong honeymoon capital. Still, so long as the higher ups never figured it out, which thanks to the deluxe break room in a nicer room elsewhere, they were good to go.

"Can I get in on this?" Haru asked.

"Ooh sorry newbie, all the rooms are accounted for you gotta wait for new guests but we're booked solid maybe in a week." Sneers replied, picking her teeth with a fingernail as she watched Mang collect her winnings.

"How's it work exactly?"

"When we get new people we go on a rota of who've joined, Duke, Pipsqueak, me, Mang, Oma, Shu, Joo Dee, Sneers and now you, you get a room you put in your yuans, and if they cheat, split up or part ways due to creative differences you get the current pot. When new guests arrived we start the total all over again."

"What about-"

"You can't sleep with the guests to get the prize - it doesn't matter if they throw them selves at you."

"That was one time!" Sneers defended, "What were the odds she was A that hot and B interested in me and three! Just so happened to be in my pick?"

"That's literally the game!" Jet jibed back unable to keep his grin from his lips.

"Sounds juicy I can't wait." Haru mused, eying the rooms and the names underneath, watching the check out dates to see where his next pick might be staying.

The staff door slammed open and the four of them stood to attention instantly, only to relax when they realised it was just Joo Dee.

"What's the haps J-Dizzle?" Jet crooned, before noticing her flushed cheeks and knitted brow that usually came coupled with the client dressing down of a lifetime, "What they do?"

She didn't answer instead taking the pen and scrawling on the map, 207, she wiped away the names and rearranged them. 'A', she wrote next to it, JB, and a line to the left 'K', DTFJB, and right and 'I' EX.

She stood back from her creation, and said.

"I think we have a new game."

"What does that mean?" Haru asked, just getting his head around the first game.

"What does J-B mean?"

"Jilted bride." Joo Dee explained.

"And E-X," Sneers added.

"Her Ex Fiance,"

"And D-T-F-J-B"

"Well K is her best friend who came to replace the Ex, but if me seeing them necking by make out mountain I'd say - do I really have to explain DTF to you?"

"Down to?"

Joo Dee rolled her eyes and spelled it out on a blank bit of whiteboard,

Down to Fuck!

"Thank you for clarifying." Sneers rolled her eyes.

"Good, we're all on the same page." she sealed the lid of the marker with finality, "Who wants odds on this?"

Korra sat on the floor by the bed, leaning back on Asami's knees as she towelled her hair. Both were enrobed, and both were testing their limits of intimacy and had yet to find a threshold on it yet, Every moment that passed by Korra knew she was on borrowed time. If the coming all this way only to be rejected hadn't incensed Iroh, her phone call with him certainly would have driven him insane. She felt a twinge of guilt having left him to torture that poor defenceless hotel worker, but also a part of her hadn't forgiven Joo Dee for interrupting them the first time. And second. And third come to think of it.

So when she heard a knocking at the door, she felt a pit punch through her stomach.

"Did you order room service?" Asami asked, so innocent and trusting, Korra couldn't look at her as she shook her head in the negative. She felt the heiress kiss the back of her head before standing to get the door.

"Don't," Korra started, eyes glassy, "Don't open that."

Asami looked back at her, and it was as though the veil had been snatched back between them, and she knew Korra was hiding something from her.

It was in the heiress' nature, Korra knew, so when she reached for the door and turned, she couldn't stop her.

Could Korra have known that morning, she thought suddenly, that by the end of it she'd be fighting for her love?


	14. Chapter 14

Really there were only three most likely outcomes, Joo Dee surmised, either Asami would choose to stay with Korra, go back to Iroh or nobody. Sneers however insisted there was a fourth.

"All I'm saying is this Asami chick sounds like she's _open minded as hell,_"

"Well you can waste your money then on the unlikely scenario they end up in a ménage à trois," Mang rolled her eyes at Sneers as the five of them huddled over their new ballot plan.

"A what?" Sneers balked,

"A _threeway_,"

"Right…I still think it should be an option, I would hate for it to _happen _and then where does the money go?"

"She's right," Jet surmised twisting the toothpick between his teeth, "I'd put a bet on Korra or both. Either way so long as there's some hot _lady action."_

Joo Dee stamped on his foot and he yelped and hopped.

"How do we tell who's _done_ who?" Haru asked.

"Same way as we read the divorcee's, who checks out with who, we get a read on them on the way out. It's more obvious than you might think." Joo Dee didn't look up from the board as she wrote on it, calculating the odds.

"What about other guests?" Sneers asked,

"Those, my friend, are the juiciest odds," Jet wrung his hands, "I put them at around 23 to one against,"

"What about if she_ Eat Pray Loves _it?"

"Three to one, the same as Korra and the douchebag,"

"So we get three times what we put in?"

The foursome looked incredulously at Haru.

"What? No," Joo Dee exclaimed.

"Who taught you math?" Jet added

"The odds are just suggestions," Mang explained, "Whatever you bet on you win the pot for,"

"But what if other people bet on that too? We could end up winning less than what we got in?"

"You gotta place your bets wisely then," Joo Dee explained, leaving her initials next to K and A getting together.

"Hey!"

There was a scramble for the pen, letters exchanged, they threw their yen into the pot Jet kept in his locker. The staff too bell let out its shrill tone, and a chorus of _Not it! _left Haru in the lurch.

"I get _Eat Pray Love, _and now this?" he mumbled heading for the reception.

"We shouldn't let him go out there alone, he's still new," Sneers mumbled,

Once more they yelled - _Not it!_

_"I hate you guys," _Mang mumbled, trailing after him.

"See you later braces!" Sneers called after her.

"Uh Hi, how can I help you today?" Haru asked the couple at the desk,

"Do you have a room booking?" Mang corrected him, reaching over the desk to open the booking ledger in front of them.

"Not exactly, we're actually booked in a smaller, much less expensive villa."

"I don't understand,"

"My boss is here, I'm her Assistant." Opal handed her a business card, and Mang took it, _Future Industries, _did not ring a bell, _Assistant to Asami Sato_, however had the ringing of cha ching between the young girls ears. Haru stiffened beside her.

"Have you seen a bozo with hair like this," the man beside her arranged his mop into a more demure and refined style before putting it back to rights.

"_Bolin_!" Opal chided, "Sorry We're on something of a personal mission, it's a long story, trying to warn her about her ex-"

"Iroh," Haru finished for her, realising too late that he had revealed too much, "He was just here, yelling at us to tell us where her new room was."

"We didn't tell him," Mang insisted, "confidentiality, you understand."

Mang was putting the pieces together in her head, this golden egg that had wandered her and Haru's way. Joo Dee had mentioned Korra seeing Iroh but not confronting him, and how now the mad incensed general marching around the island in search for a sign of his jilted bride.

"Right," Opal balked, "We would like to find her too, to support our friend, and our _other _friend."

"I'm sorry," Haru told her, "It's company policy we can't hand out the details of our guests."

"But I made the booking for her, all of it the massages, the dinners, the diving lessons," Opal started pulling out the receipts and copies of the tickets she'd kept _just in case, _"This guy is going to ruin the last shred of happiness my _friends _have, I mean _he left her at the altar, _I can't let her figure out he's gunning to try and win her back and ruin this vacation, it's just so we can warn her what's coming so she can prepare- look its 3:15 right now, on the third day - _they're at the play,_ the ember island play," Opal recited from memory "fifty yuans a ticket, front row, seats J and K, _just_ point us in the right direction."

"That's a damn good assistant right there!" Bolin encouraged massaging her shoulders and getting pumped himself.

"They cancelled," Mang told her, "They cancelled everything for today."

"_Cancelled_?" Opal frowned, and her expressions flowed from this to dropping with surprise to a firm but hopeful smile, "They _cancelled."_

When she looked up at Mang, whose eyebrows were raised, and lips sealed. Mang who little more than an hour ago had learned of the boat and the pair rushing off to their hotel room as though no-one else existed.

"This is very important. Iroh is a _potentially_ _dangerous and jealous man,_" Opal told her firmly, "This could be a safety issue," she pressed, "Your policy ensures the safety and privacy of your guests right? Emphasis on the _safety _part_."_

Mang knew Korra was a good person when she saved her from Asami's initial meltdown at the desk. She had bet on them making it, even though the ballot was saturated, by the end of this trip she hoped nothing would break them, so she scribbled on a scrap of paper and inclined her head to the direction of the suites.

"Don't," Korra started, eyes glassy, "Don't open that."

Asami looked down at her, reading every inch of the morose, terrified expression on her face. She watched as all the work she had put in to get Korra to relax rushed out of that perfect body, and in its place was a tense anxious mess she'd arrived here with. The only conclusion she could draw that the poison was on the other side of that door, knocking gently.

Asami was done with it, she thought, whatever tortured Korra like this _had to go. _It was with this in mind she reached for the door, and yanked it open.

Two nimble arms graced her enrobed shoulders and she was buffeted by the unexpected hug of one, Opal Beifong. She couldn't turn to see that Korra's expression had shifted into confusion, especially when a set of firmer, bigger and clumsier arms came around her and lifted them both up.

"Hey Bolin!"

Korra stood up gingerly behind the trio, looking lost as all she had been preparing for failed to compare to this. Before she realised Bolin's long reach had snatched her into the hug as well, it was when she felt Asami's arm tuck back around her in it that she let out the breath she was holding.

When they disengaged the heiress tucked her hair behind her ears in an effort to get her brain to catch up.

"What are you doing here?"

There was a silence that followed, filled with the possibilities of just how to pose such a problem of the human spanner, Iroh, in the works of whatever Opal and Bolin had just interrupted.

"The reception said you cancelled your activities for today."

Asami's mind went straight back to that morning, the bed, their bodies entwined, Korra's lips emblazoned against her skin and fingers inside her, languishing in the lazy morning fucking that was slow and building in its burning intensity. She also remembered how they'd agreed to keep this all a secret, and after being silent for perhaps a moment too long answered.

"We decided we had a lot to-" her breath was snatched away as she quickly relived the shower they'd just had together, and the tender way Korra had held and bathed her, blending sensuality and sex in the most exquisite of trysts "-_talk about." _she finished.

Korra couldn't stand it, and sensed scrutiny from Opal, who knew her true feelings, but did not know yet what had come of them.

_I had a plan_, Korra thought longingly about keeping Asami a secret, _just until she could figure things out._

"I'm going to get changed if we're going to make it to Kya's," Korra stepped in, desperately hoping to change the topic, quickly lying and plotting her next move.

All she knew was the longer they were together in a hotel room in robes, the more it looked like they were having an affair. Which technically it wasn't, but it had only been four days since Asami had been left at the altar by the General now apparently loose on this side of the island. People tended to look down on such a thing, and Korra felt enough shame on the subject as it was.

"And we're going to Kya's," Asami went with it, even going so far as to explain, "Korra's aunt, or not so much. It's a whole thing." she shrugged and internally analysing each word that slipped out after the fact.

"Right," Opal studied them, "I'm glad you're getting on ok, to tell you the truth I thought you'd be driving each other crazy and be a little…devastated out here." she eyed Korra in particular, who remained a wall of unintelligable information. All she could say for certain was that the energies in here were full of conflict.

"Oh I was." Asami breathed, still struggling to keep from her mind the many _recovery positions _Korra had helped her with over the last day or so. "Korra's been a big help."

"That's what friends are for," Korra flashed a barely convincing smile their way before slipping into the bathroom with fist fulls of mismatched clothes, when Asami saw them she took the no's and left her with a more coherent outfit.

"But you came all this way?" Asami asked, tossing them, "For me?"

The heiress couldn't help the warm unfamiliar feeling bleeding over her chest then.

"Mako's coming too when he gets off work on Saturday." Bolin told her, "Opal got us a villa nearby so we could all support you after _you know_."

Next thing she knew she was leaking, lips pursing together as she regarded her Assistant and well, her friends, being there for her like a family would.

Opal hugged her again, more gently this time, and Bolin kissed her temple and rubbed her back. _Korra was missing, _she thought, but she suspected Korra was likely freaking out alone in the next room right now.

"We have some news. A warning," Opal added quietly. By this point Korra was out of the bathroom balling her robe between her fists. Opal looked at Korra when she said, "Iroh is here, looking for you."

Korra only watched Asami as she said this, in the aftermath.

"We came to protect you from him, and be on your side if you wanted to confront him." Opal explained.

"I'm not ready," Was the first thing the heiress managed to breathe, suddenly the arms she began to crave as of late, were around her, catching her as the wound she'd just healed split and had her bowing over, "He left a letter, _why can't he just leave it alone._"

She tucked her face into Korra's neck and found herself inhaling pure, clean Korra, before catching herself in the act. She knew she wanted Korra to act as she had before, to kiss her neck and card fingers through her hair, but a best friend outwardly has limits.

"He called the office looking for you, flipped his lid when he realised you'd come here without him."

"Why does he think he deserves an audience with her?" Korra sneered rubbing Asami's back in friendly circles was the heiress clung to her.

"He said something about therapy, even had the gall to sound _remorseful, _and went so far as to stupidly tell me he was coming to the island to quote 'win you back'"

Korra felt her stomach fall at the idea of it, fighting the urge to hold Asami tighter, instead she felt her pulling back.

"He'll be all over this hotel looking for me." Asami felt the logical, tactical part of her brain take over, and tried not to read into Korra's fingers slipping one by one from her grip.

"You can stay with us whatever you need." Opal nodded assuredly.

"We've got plans with Kya over on the other side of the island," Asami asked looking to Korra, who pulled her lips into yet another tight lipped smile to hide another lie.

"That's good, that sounds safe," Opal mused.

"Wait we can't just hide from him - this is your vacation!" Bolin argued, "We should be able to have a good time."

"We will Bo," Korra looked at Asami then, "We have two and a bit weeks left, but right now Asami just has to mentally prepare…I do too," she squeezed her arm, "We'll face him together."

Asami watched her then, and somewhere in those statements was something that felt wrong to her. That her truly burying her last relationship was meant to be a solo mission, one that should have already occurred before the last one started. She, like Iroh, had been foolish enough to think that a letter should suffice in the face of it.

"Okay, well me and Bo still have to check in with the Villa, so I guess we'll meet you at this Kya's after?"

Korra nodded and scribbled the address on a pen and paper behind Asami. Who stood there while, once again her friends rallied around her.

On autopilot she grabbed her clothes, and packed an overnight bag, it seemed to be a pattern of theirs to spend the night at Kya's and she had a sour feeling that this time would require clothes.

The pairs split off to their respective missions, and when in the cab only then did Asami actually speak.

"What plans did you make with Kya?" Asami asked.

"I uh, actually didn't," Korra admitted, "I just wanted to get out of there."

"Did you see him?"

Korra was silent then, choosing her words in her head but unable to put it in a light that made her lying seem less devious. Asami went on "Is that who you thought was on the other side of the door?"

"I just, when I saw him, and I knew what he wanted because _how could he not,_ I wanted to see you." Korra looked down picking at the seat, "I wanted to be with you a little longer."

"Korra look at me," the sculptor shook her head and closed her eyes, but Asami was patient with her and let her take the shyest of glances, "You can't lose me."

"I'm scared I'm losing me." Korra breathed. "He was the '_wrong number_' and I told him you'd forgotten him and to go home and then I _lied_ to you about it…this uncertainty, all of it, I have no control. It's twisting me up-"

"More than usual?"

Korra looked up at her, brows knitted.

"I'm keep lying for you, to you, for you," Korra admitted.

"You're a good person." Asami assured her.

"I'm not so sure."

Asami let the statement hang there between them. She had enough trouble convincing Korra she wanted her, and she'd been put through the ringer of surprises, deceit and drama in the last hour alone. She was exhausted. So she crawled over the cab seat and wrapped her arms around Korra, tucking her head back into her neck.

"I'm just so glad that you're here,"

"You need me to be your friend right now." Korra felt numb as she spoke, fingers knotting in her hair as she balanced her forehead against the cool of the window. "I think we should pause this, until we get this Iroh thing over."

Asami pulled away at those words, it felt like a tsunami of cold ocean yanking her back with the current, and suddenly she was on the other side of the cab.

"You're not serious."

Korra nodded soberly, lifting her head from the window to look at her.

"You're not done with him," she said, and again that stoic, hard expression of hers was back, body tight and mind closed, "he's not done with you. You don't need me distracting you. I don't feel right doing this behind everybody's back - especially now that _everybody_ is here."

"What about the boat- _what about last night!"_

Korra flinched and fists clenched over her jeans.

"I love you Asami." her voice was quiet, raspy and vulnerable, but she pressed through it even as her throat closed up, "But he'll be hanging over us so long as you don't face him."

"No Korra this is _you_, this is your fear-"

"I know."

Korra reached across the seat to balance her hand over Asami's and held it there. The heiress looked down at them, not believing what she was hearing.

"Best friends come first," Korra recited numbly, "Not to mention he will go _insane _if he finds out about us."

They were outside Kya's now, and when Korra saw the house she mumbled.

"Oh crap."

Korra had forgotten the Aang surf competition for the most part, but it seemed the day had crept up to them, and Kya had already begun decorating the house and bar for the festival of surf, sand and the years biggest waves in honour of her late father.

Kya waved at them from the porch, smiling warmly, and Asami snatched her hand back to run and give the older woman a hug. Korra grabbed the bags and followed.

"Need help setting up?"

Asami didn't know what she was getting into, but she knew a project that could be managed better when she saw one.

"More the merrier!" Kya laughed as the heiress took to helping bar staff (sans Kuvira) unravel a banner and attach to a crane she was automatically drawn to. _Smile through the pain_, the heiress remembered, _you'll get through this._

Korra walked up to the scene slowly, in awe of both what in the _hell _she had just done, but also the memories washing over her at the sight of the old banners and arrows and colours.

The flags littered Kya's front porch, with the slogan that had dominated the festival since it started - _Aang would do it._

Korra remembered the story, she'd heard it multiple times whenever she was there for a visit. The only difference to this one was that a certain former bride had dominated the conversation of late, most deservedly.

Still upon noticing the unusual staggered entrance of the girls who a day ago couldn't let each others hands go, Kya decided it was time for another lesson.

Korra took to knotting nets to block surfers from being battered against underwater rocks during wipe outs, an important job that required real focus. It became an impossible task when she overheard Kya informing Asami later.

"My father, Aang, was a local lifeguard, who had saved over three hundred people in his career. Not a single person died on his watch, to this day _the best lifeguard in the world_. He was so brave, there was no one he wouldn't go after if they were in trouble. One year the islanders council invited him on a Maori voyage, to sail as the original islanders had thousands of years ago using the stars and their sailers to navigate the open sea."

"That's incredible," Asami gushed, invested in anything that could distract her from the girl who held her heart not six feet from them.

"But," Kya took a breath, "They were hit with some rough seas, three men and three women, were clinging to that broken sailer as a raft for three days, until finally Aang said they'll die out there if they do nothing. So my mom…" Kya's voice went up, but she powered through the story, "put oranges around his neck, some of their last food for sustenance and he swam away, looking for help. Eventually a boat picked them up and they were saved…Dad…Aang was never found."

"I'm so sorry." Asami gingerly reached out to comfort the older woman who had once been so kind to her.

"_So _we hold this surf competition in his honour. It started when there were these forty foot, fifty foot waves and the surfers were like its too tough no one can do that, and then suddenly someone would say _Aang would do it. _Aang would do it, and they would and," Kya nipped a tear from her eye as she looked over the ocean, "it'd get us through some tough times. You should prepare yourself the whole Aang clan is coming here tomorrow…"

"Aang would do it." Asami repeated, this time her eyes flicking purposefully over to Korra.

"What's going on between you two? You haven't talked since you've got here."

"Oh we _talked_ on the way." Asami snapped a part of the deck chair she was assembling at that moment and covered her face with her hands.

"Ah," Kya sat beside her, "It was that type of talk." her eyes followed Korra as she stormed off to be anywhere else, and she put her arm around Asami's shoulder. "She adores you, you know that right."

"We have the _worst_ timing!" Asami all but screamed it in her hands. "My ex is on the island."

Kya's hand stopped rubbing her arm as she looked at her, and planned her words careful.

"How does that make you feel?"

"On edge, lost,"_ Losing her_. She omitted the last part. Asami sobbed only to be tucked securely against Kya and felt a warm hand on her temple. "Why is it everyone I telling me they know what they want, but at the same time what I want isn't real?"

She was referring to them both, Korra recently and all the damn rhetoric Iroh had used in that damn stupid letter which she wished she could study to tell what the hell he was thinking.

"You got to make them believe it baby," Kya soothed, "It took Kana and I over thirty years to make it together, and in the end I had to convince her and myself I could settle down here. The proof isn't you saying sweetie, it's just you."

Asami felt those words hitting her in her core, and when Kya went on the raw truth of it hit her hard.

"You've got a choice only you can make, I just hope it doesn't take you three decades to make the right one."

Asami found herself nodding and pawing at her tears, pulling herself together.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm just trying to get my head around it before he shows up I guess."

"Well, you're welcome to stay at the usual spot for tonight,"

Opal and Bolin had pulled up, and Korra decidedly hung back as Asami did all the introductions. Lucky for Kya she had stocked a plethora of food to feed the festival staff to keep Bolin happy, and the chef himself immediately took charge of the barbecue at a complete strangers house. Asami had to admire the charm of that man.

The foursome founded an impromptu picnic in a party on the beach, and when they'd finished Opal and Bolin took their chance to enjoy what the ocean and the island had to offer. It was particularly beautiful as the sun had set and tiki torches lit the cabana.

"Are you okay?" Korra asked tentatively, drawing patterns in the sand.

"I am now, thanks to Kya,"

Korra read between the lines as _no thanks to you, _and it stung.

"I'm still here for you." Korra dug her fingers deep in the soft sand. "This is only temporary."

"I know." Asami whispered. She looked around them for people they knew, and decided to take a leap of faith, and buried her fingers too, sliding Korra's between her own hidden from view. "But I'm not letting go," she told her firmly.

Korra said nothing, but instead, in secret caressed her thumb with her own. Asami watched the invisible exchange before looking up and ended up staring directly into Korra's blue eyes, bright and crisp in the dark and fire.

Asami wanted to kiss her, in front of all these people, she craved it. Kya's words ruminating in her mind she leaned a touch closer. Until Bolin landed beside them soaking and shaking his hair out like a wet dog, and Korra snatched her hand away, wrapping her arms around her knees.

Asami couldn't take the cold empty cut that coursed through her at the whole exchange, and mumbled something to the effect of _I'm going to bed, _before taking to the bed she had once shared with Korra.

Despite herself she left a space for her, tucking herself into the cool wall and folding the edge of the sheet at a right angle so the Ice Sculptor could slip in behind her.

When she woke the first time, Bolin and Opal were draped across in the second bed, deep in slumber and tangled like children, Opal balanced precariously on Bolin's back. It was then she noticed Korra had just walked away from the door ajar.

Incensed by her abandonment, she followed her.

"So you're literally hiding in the closet now?"

"I think technically this is called a pantry," Korra mused pulling nonchalantly at a bag of Funyuns, "I thought I could eat my feelings but apparently I have no appetite,"

Asami wanted to hold her, it was an acute feeling tight in her chest, but all day she'd had to fight that urge and it stung then as it had the first time.

"I understand why we're keeping this _secret. _But I just, it hurts when you go cold on me, you know that right."

"If they find out- all these people judging us, issues of morality, would we even have a chance at this being real I- it'd be a disaster-" Asami silenced her with a wave of a hand and continued.

"I know, objectively this is all - it's too soon." she scooped her hair behind her ears, "but _this isn't about him, it's about us._ I have feelings for you, and I want to be an _us._" gestured between the two of them, "I can't stop wanting that all together. Not after last night. Not _after the first. _I think we both need it."

"This is hard for me too."

Asami reached out, and Korra's cheek rested in her palm. "You've been holding your breath for so long." The ice sculptor grabbed her wrist gently, and closed her eyes, enthralled by the arc Asami's thumb was tracing under her eye, and her hand now gracing her racing heart "I want you to breathe with me Korra."

Korra felt a valve trigger with the cadence of her voice, and through an 'o' in her lips she let out a lungful.

"I can't stop feeling like this Korra." Asami told her firmly, taking her hand and knotting their fingers.

"It's not like we can have those three dates with him _lurking in the wings." _Korra blurted, her actions were steeped in practicality, but the truth of it was all she wanted to give in.

"I don't think we should hide the way we feel about each other _to each other_…"

"_I don't know how else to be_." they both were very much all or nothing candidates, they had matching intensity, and had never considered compromise, except of course, with each other.

"…At least not behind closed doors."

"Asami…" Korra trailed off.

_Aang would do it. _That damn mantra was incessant, but the meaning had always been clear to Korra.

_Be brave._

"Tell me to stop."

Only the next sound was their lips pressing together in an urgent, tight kiss, hands fervently gripping clothes and gently tugging hair. This was another one of those times Korra hadn't meant for it to happen, but was all the more grateful that it did. Asami pressed her against the door and latched onto her neck, _proving _how badly she wanted to suck and bite the pulse point there.

Korra let out a soft moan as Asami descended and ripped up her shirt unclipping her jeans in a swift unreserved motion. They were alone in the middle of the night, everyone deep in sleep upstairs, and they took each other silently and in secret. Asami on her knees and taking Korra's leg over her shoulder, and her clit into her mouth as though taking holy communion.

She could forget the man hunting her, how could she think of anyone else? When the woman she loved rode her face, and stifled, cried out her name.

"_Dearest Asami… _No that's too…wrong just _wrong," _Iroh scribbled on the notepad he'd bought from a knick-knack shop outside the hotel, he was writing with a novelty pen that had _Ember Island is for Lovers, _on a bar with a scotch beside him. He was dictating an apology letter.

_"I looked inside myself and saw myself, above myself, marrying you. Guuuh," _he grunted and scribbled and screwed up his fifth or sixth attempt after his fifth or sixteenth whiskey.

"Asami huh?" A velvet, calm voice cooed beside him, "That's an unusual name."

"It's beautiful actually," he corrected needlessly, "I'm just hoping she takes me back. If I can find her on this stupid island."

"_Archipelago," _the woman corrected, "and I might have seen a woman of that name around my bar a few nights ago."

Iroh perked up.

"Tell me where she is!"

"Easy tiger, buy a lady a drink first, perhaps we can help each other."

"Of course, anything miss, uh, name?"

"Kuvira," Kuvira held out her hand, "You must be Iroh,"


	15. Chapter 15

Asami had to admit this wasn't how she imagined post coital bliss, mere inches away from ho-ho's and Funyuns. Still, it was hard to deny, cocooned in Korra's arms and straddling her lap on the cool tile of the pantry.

"I think we should get to bed," Korra whispered regretfully, as Asami's grip on her hair angled her neck so she could bite beneath her jaw. "And hide the evidence,"

She toed the crushed bag of crackers by her leg and noted many other damaged produce that had crossed their path.

"Say that again when you're not inside me," the heiress cooed and twitched when her best friend's fingers slipped out, sliding and teasing back the seam of her panties.

"Hey!" she protested pulling back to which Korra responded with a kiss.

"Don't be Greedy." Korra chided as her lips strayed. "At some point someone is going to want a midnight snack and then what?"

"I mean I know we haven't discussed all the terms of this relationship yet but threeway?"

"The only other people here are in couples." Korra pointed out.

"You want a fourway? Jeez Korra."

Korra jostled her on her lap in mock frustration, until Asami gripped her shoulders and claimed her last kiss in the cupboard. Biting and teasing, but ultimately relenting to Korra's wishes.

They stood, legs weak from being bent and bowed in awkward positions in this small space. Korra's hands hovered as Asami clambered back into her shorts and pulled her shirt back over head. The Ice sculptor put on only her underwear and shirt and clutched the remainder of her clothes in her fist. She opened the door to the outside world.

Lips pursed.

Back tense.

internally stuffing her feelings into a little black box that she was sure she could refer to later after this inevitable plane crash.

She felt a trickle of skin contact on her palm as she walked, and gently, so as not to spook her, Asami was slotting her fingers between hers. Korra slowed to a halt, and watched as Asami nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and met her gaze slowly. Now at the stairs she took the first step, only to turn back and press a close lipped kiss to her mouth.

The heiress took the affection pouring into her, and rose her hands to cup Korra's cheek, as delicately as though a bird was nestled there. These wordless encounters were racking up, Korra thought, as their foreheads pressed together and eyes shut. The thought drifted as the silence of the night encompassed them, until only the ambient of waves outside tumbled over them as though they were afloat underneath.

The ice sculptor gently pulled back, and by the hand, led her up the stair case. It was then Asami's eyes scattered over the photographs decorating every inch of the wall, she found the Korra's first, and spied a Kuvira or two, and then Kya and Kana, their decades together around the world. She noted how they'd aged and differed through time, and yet the warmth, the personalities, the kindness remained utterly unchanged.

The bubble the two had found themselves in burst when they entered the room, once, twice their sanctuary, now invaded by their friends sprawled in the bed Korra kept forgetting to sleep in.

This time she lifted the covers and waited for Asami to slip in first before curling up beside her. The heiress instinctively tucked her nose into Korra's neck, inhaling and twisting her body into hers as her fingers broke the clothing barrier and traced paths along her spine.

A snore rang out from the other bed and pair tensed, suddenly, realising their mistake.

"We can't-"

"It's too obvious-" they whispered simultaneously. Asami went about the sad business of prying her hands from Korra's warm and welcoming body, Korra twisted so she was no longer facing her. Gripping the pillow in an effort to keep her hands to herself.

Asami turned too, eyes wide open as she thought about the night she was about to have without Korra against her. Which made it all the more confusing when Korra's ankle hooked back over hers.

"Korra?"

"Shh,"

The heiress smiled into her pillow, gripping the seams as she grinned, toes rubbing the back of Korra's ankle.

Sleep-Korra was an insidious traitor, Barely-Awake-Korra thought, already feeling her chest and hips aligned with Asami's side, her cheek atop her breast and long fingers knotted in her hair.

It was impossible to pull herself away at that moment, as though propping herself up on her forearms came with the added weight of another human being on top of her.

Korra found herself watching Asami as she slept none the wiser, limp hand still gracing Korra's neck. She felt the pull, to lie back down and bury her face into her neck, the possessive part wanting to clutch her against her and never let go. Asami's expressions shifted, eye brows creasing and lips pulling down at the corners, and instantly Korra's fingers were at her temple tracing down, guiding her features into a calmer visage. Her thumb hovered over her lips, and couldn't help be gripped by the fantasies of kissing her awake, gentle and coaxing.

What am I doing?

It was then Korra remembered herself, braving a look over at the bed beside theirs, and her stomach dropped at the sight of it being empty.

Have they seen? Do they know? Are they telling everyone?

She jolted at the touch of Asami's hand on her jaw, turning her back to look at her jade smiled up at her, tousled and perfect and certain of what she was about to do.

"Morning cutie." Leaning up to press pale lips to a dark cheek.

Korra had an errant thought about whether or not Asami had ever said this to her ex, but as she pulled away, Korra hated the distance.

Fuck it. She turned her head to kiss her, hard.

Asami had a remarkable talent for just going with it. Cupping her jaw and shifting her hips directly under Korra. When they were sparring partners, Korra remembered as Asami nibbled her lip, she also had an impressive affinity for great legwork in the floor holds. She could entangle, entrap and envelope an opponent without a hope of escape with her long shapely legs.

Korra was sure she did it on purpose, placing her thigh just so, forcing Korra to lose her thoughts and reach up for the hand gripping the headboard, instead trading it for her own fingers knotting into the pillow.

Asami's heavy breathing skipped as Korra returned the favour, pressing her knee in the apex of her thighs, and biting her neck in response.

"No hickies," Asami warned breathlessly, biting her lip as Korra kissed the spot softly in apology. She moved down, still clutching her hand in her descent, the free one pushing up her shirt and lips finding home on her nipple there. Asami's fingers carded through her hair and clutched her there, trying to keep the one brain cell active acutely aware of the door. That braincell about exploded when Korra's fingers teamed into her shorts once again, making short work of her underwear, soaking, and slipping them to one side.

Three unexpected things happened next.

"Korra!"

The door exploded open, accompanied by the voices of three happy children, and Asami threw the Ice Sculptor from the bed.

They hadn't noticed, Asami surmised as they jumped on Korra in the valley between the twin beds, and she sat up to watch the scene. Three children of sequential age knocking the Ice sculptor once again on her back with out a hope of recovery, greeting and cajoling and telling stories the older woman had missed since their last meeting.

"Guys give her room to breathe!" Kya laughed leaning on the door frame smiling as the children ignored her, instead sharing a look with the heiress, lips spongey and clothes being tugged to rights. The older woman's expression dropped when she saw her, and looked back at Korra who was red at the ears. Asami's eyes went wide, and her heart went into overdrive.

"Korra do you want to go swimming with us?"

"Can you teach me how to surf Korra?"

"Look what I found in my ear!"

The children grilled her, and with the kicking and landing she's just received, that and her mind doing a 180 in the last thirty seconds; Korra found it all overwhelming.

"God Asami I think my stomach has an imprint of your foot" Korra winced, blushing confused, but now free of six little arms she rubbed her stomach and had the where with all finally to hug her psuedo-siblings.

"I-I used my shin actually,"

"Why were you sharing a bed?" a small sharp question made them both stiffen, "Are you like Kya and aunt Kana?"

"No- Ikki, we-" Korra stumbled, "Our friends were in the other bed last night, Asami and I are such good friends," She made the mistake at looking into Kya's knowing eyes, as she said that, "We thought it'd be easier if we just shared." she nodded satisfied with her lie.

"So this is Asami who works a lot with the annoying boyfriend?"

Korra's face changed in a thunderstorm of embarrassed emotions.

"Fiancé," Jinora corrected falsely.

"Ex," Asami rectified, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking away from Kya's admonishment, instead looking at her lover on the floor, only to be distracted by the boy staring at her in her arms.

"So the pretty lady is single," he said to her, eyes glittering.

"I…needed some me time." Asami said to him, unsure of A why and B how to speak to small humans.

"Come on guys, let's go see if Bolin needs help with breakfast." Kya beckoned across the already open door.

"I will wait for you beautiful lady!" Meelo called back blowing a snotty kiss her way as he sashayed away. Asami marvelled at how he was at once, charming, confusing, slimy and light on his feet.

When they were out of earshot, Kya's eyes flicked to them both before clearing their throats.

"Do either of you have any idea what happened to my bags of Funyuns or the crackers, or the what might have squashed the bread in the pantry last night?"

The silence was telling, both girls locked in place and in eye contact with her as she inspected them.

"Party people right?" Korra lied, after too long, and badly.

"Must've snuck in," Asami attempted to support her, "and…squashed your bread."

"Hmm," the older woman considered their offering, "animals," she shrugged, turning away and finally letting the door close.

Korra let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Do you think she bought that?" Asami asked as she crawled back to her sit on the bed.

"Not a chance." Korra rubbed her face, "Her gaydar is pretty legendary."

Asami pulled the hair out of Korra's eyes from behind her and kissed the back of her neck before hugging her from behind.

"It's safe if she knows isn't it? She's not going to tell Iroh…I get the feeling she, or definitely Kana, want there to be an us."

Korra shrugged.

"I'm still not sure I want them to know just yet."

She let the statement hang there, but held on tightly to the hand Asami had given her in her embrace.

"I've not actually brought anyone home to them," she admitted.

"Not even Mako?"

"Especially not Mako, we couldn't stop arguing long enough…"

"Well…I'm honoured to get this close." Asami kissed her neck again, and despite everything Korra found her smile. Asami noted the dimples there, and as she watched saw patches of peace bleeding through her visage. Beneath her hands and under her gaze she knew, Korra was breathing again.

"I do want to though." Korra whispered, thumb tracing an arch over Asami's wrist. "Just not yet."

"So one day they can walk in on us fucking and say oh this is normal."

"That's not what I- Oh god that just happened."

"It's ok I kicked you before they saw anything."

"That hurt! I think I'm going to bruise." Korra bent over the pain to lessen it, but before she could make a drama out of it Asami was on her knees in front of her lifting her shirt. She kissed the red spot over her abs and when she pulled back looked up at Korra.

Korra's mouth went dry at the sight of it, at her touch tickling her abs, at the lips just out of reach.

"I'm sorry," Asami told her, leaning in to brush her lips over hers softly. Suddenly, to their detriment, it felt like no time had passed, and urgently Korra reeled back. Aware that a greater population of people who knew them and were awake could possibly hear them and come knocking.

"I think…I need a swim, I'll swim with the kids."

"Right," Asami swallowed, "A shower. I'll take a shower."

"We shouldn't…" Korra stopped and smiled despite herself, "we should not, take it together."

"No,"

There was a moment where Asami nails scraped against her bare skin, and Korra's grip on her arms tightened, as the pair shared a fantasy of Korra fucking her raw against tile, both legs wrapped entirely over her firm hips and mouth against nibbling under her jaw and under a stream.

Asami wondered if there was a radio to block the sounds she would make.

"A cold shower." she affirmed standing, blushing, knowing there was no way they could get away with it.

"Yeah," Korra breathed, head spinning, "That should work." She barely felt Asami kiss her forehead before she bolted for the en suite.

"Swimming." Korra said to herself.

Swimming became a full blown surf demonstration. The kids insisted, and Korra armed with the suit and shorts Asami had packed for her, blew the dust off her old skills.

She was glad when she bailed for the first time that Asami was inside, showering, naked, wet, without her. She bailed a second time.

"Get it together Korra!" Jinora yelled at her from the shore.

"Be the leaf!" Meelo yelled back.

Korra lay back on the board before the tide, calming herself. She looked up at the endless sky, elevated, content with the knowledge that she had kissed and been kissed and by one, Asami Sato. Much had changed since the last time she surfed, since the last time she swam, and the tiny optimistic part of her was singing because of it.

Listening to the waves, the gentle breeze and warming her face against the sun, she let the emotions settle and become grounded. Laying on her stomach, paddling with her hands, the current slipped from beneath her, and she was on her feet and riding the arc as it grew and shoved her, trying to tip her. She let her fingers skim the wall as she sliced through it.

"Go Korra!" the voice jolted her, but she regained control, daring a look at Asami rooting for her beside Opal back on the sand.

Her hair was wet, and smile big, and before she knew it Korra was honing in on it, and right in front of her wading back with the board yanking after her via ankle string.

She knew what couldn't happen, she couldn't run up to her like she wanted to, take her in her arms and kiss her with vigour and victory. Instead when she was free of the board she ran her fingers through her hair self consciously, and held the back of her neck as she walked up to the two girls.

"What'd you think?"

"Amazing." Opal gushed.

"Impressive," Asami added, questioning every syllable before she uttered them, analysing the difference between speaking as a best friend, and well, something more. "I would love a lesson sometime." something more, that was something more. She berated herself, "You might have to hold me for the first time though." What the hell are you doing?

Korra's eyes widened and her ears shone red.

"I- yes that would be agreeable yeah. I mean it's your honeymoon." she swallowed the sand jammed down her throat (metaphorically speaking, not from the wipeouts), "How did you sleep?"

"You should know you were there."

Asami couldn't find a rhythm with her that wasn't knee-jerk flirting.

"Yeah I didn't know Korra was such a hugger," Opal noted nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, I just grab," Korra flexed her arms and hugged the air to make her point, "Asami was just the nearest cuddliest pillow."

"You guys make such a cute pair of cuddle bunnies." Opal teased, bumping Asami's hip.

"Yeah well, we'll have our beds back soon so - won't happen again. Asami - sorry I glommed into - onto you like that."

"Don't worry about it." Asami regarded her softly, hugging herself to refrain from all the touching she wanted to be doing.

Opal's eyes flicked between the two of them, words formulating carefully in her mind.

"Would have thought you'd be hugging the fridge in a place like this."

"I get used to stuff like this." Korra shrugged, "It's like my body knows what to do."

"I'll say." Asami muttered to herself and again Korra tensed and stared at her in shock, but somehow she still couldn't help a smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, well," Korra trailed off, "I better get dry for breakfast."

She saluted them, and face dropped, eyes screaming why did I just do that silently before she walked off.

Asami watched her go, it seemed innocent enough, before she turned her neck back to see Opal staring at her with wide eyes.

"Bolin snores you know," she began, "Wakes me up with a big one every now and then."

"Really? I got none of that…must've been the distance."

"It's funny I woke up and you weren't there, a few times I woke up and you weren't there, which is weird because, you went to bed first." Opal squinted at her, tapping her lips with her fingers as she watched Asami's face freeze.

"That is funny." Asami felt her circling the truth, and she wasn't used to lying to this particular person.

"And suddenly you guys were there on opposite sides of the bed."

"Those beds are big, Korra and I had a tonne of space."

"I saw Korra's ankle rubbing up on yours last night. Under the sheets."

"It was?" Asami felt her heart stop but concentrated on letting none of it show, "We must not have been awake."

"And this morning," Opal began, "Her cheek was atop your-"

"She's just huggy, in her sleep you heard her."

"I'm just saying you guys were awake together in the middle of the night for a long time."

"And?" Asami burst out, yet in a fierce whisper, "We shared a bed, we were talking. We're close, we've gotten closer, she's been comforting me - It just happened." wait shit no, that's what people having affairs say!

"You're sleeping with her!" Opal sneered in a whisper.

"Shh, no. Shut up." Asami physically covered her mouth, "You don't know what you're asking me to admit okay? I need you to promise to keep this to yourself."

Opal batted her hand away and whisper yelled.

"Of course! Iroh will freak! But I'm so happy for you guys I'm so happy for Korra! She is totally in-"

"I know but you can't say anything to her. She is so skittish and scared this'll end badly and I can't- don't you understand, I have to keep us in this bubble."

"Why were you torturing her back there with all that flirting?"

"I don't know, it started when we got here I discovered all this attraction for her because I was feeling again and it's like I can't stop-"

"Why? Have the flood gates opened?" Opal grinned at her own joke and Asami covered her face.

"Hey," Opal grabbed Asami by her wrists and parted her hands so she could look at her, "Korra has wanted this for a long time, and believe it or not, I've thought you two were good for each other for as long."

"Really?"

"Yeah…but you can't tell your boss she's missing out on something great when she's engaged."

"What about your friend?"

Opal hugged her, sealing her arms against her sides at her elbows and making it hard for the heiress to hug back.

"B-B-B-B-B-BREAKFAST is ready!" Bolin yelled from the house, adorned in a makeshift newspaper chef hat and still clutching a frying pan.

"Does Kya mind him taking over like this?" Asami asked.

"She offered him a job at the bar as Chief Griller."

"Oh."

"He said he'd think about it." Opal shrugged, "Living in paradise can't be bad either."

"It's actually been incredible for us."

"Aw," Opal cooed, wrapping her arm behind Asami's back and guiding her toward the house.

"You have to tell me everything."

"In an undisclosed location…maybe." Asami smiled, chest fluttering and for once not with dread.

After a Vegas style breakfast buffet lounging on the beach seemed like the only answer for the crew.

Opal had informed Mako of their location and once his brother had gotten off the line after describing what a wonderful time they'd had on the first day he was in a cab on his way.

Bolin was acting as sea monster to the kids in the shallow, covering himself in seaweed and roaring after them, careful not to lose is weed wig.

Korra and Asami lay on their fronts on towels, feeling the sun warm them. Korra couldn't help but let her eyes drag up every inch of the heiress as they lay side by side. Asami burrowed her hand in the sand, and waited for Korra to meet hers underneath.

Korra bit her lip as she watched the sand dip and shift in valleys around their buried hands, before meeting Asami's gaze.

It almost felt normal.

"I'd kiss you right now if I could." Asami whispered gently to her in the sun, thumb tracing hers in the dark.

"I'd kiss back." Korra told her, hooking her thumb back and locking it against her.

"Surf lessons! Surf lessons!" Meelo skidded over to both of them, in the flurry of sand and boy they snatched their hands away and prayed no one noticed. "You promised!"

"I don't remember promising but sure." Korra stood dusting off sand that was already clinging to her and in everything.

"Can you teach me too?" Asami asked, gingerly swiping her hair behind her ears, before looking to Meelo, "After you of course."

He bowed at her in thanks before taking Korra's hand and yanking her in the direction on the ocean. Korra pulled a face and shrugged back at Asami who found her laugh once again. She watched her pick him up with one arm and throw him over her shoulder, and pick up a board on the other. Bless those back muscles. Asami thought, shameless ogling.

When they were in the shallows she balanced him in front of her, and then they were off until they were two figures in the distance.

Asami sat there hugging her knees watching, safe and alone until Jinora and Ikki sat beside her, tying hibiscus flowers into crowns.

"Here I'll show you." Ikki split the stems and twirled them together at a lightning speed, entirely focused until Meelo returned dripping and shivering from the sea.

"Y-y-your t-t-turn," he shook himself like a dog and his sisters only watched him like they had both expected and accepted it was going to happen.

Ikki dropped her creation and ran to Korra, Meelo picked it up, only partially focusing until giving up entirely to stare at Asami.

"Don't do that Meelo." Jinora shoved his head. She looked at Asami apologetically, "I'm sorry to hear about what your ex did to you. That must have been awful."

"He knew something I didn't," Asami looked to Korra on the shore, kicking off with Ikki on board, "I know it now though."

"Korra didn't like him." Jinora added. When Asami looked her, she was wearing her crown, and had her nose in a dog eared romance novel.

"Didn't she now?" Asami probed, knowing the reason why, still she was curious to how much exactly Korra had revealed to her family.

"She said he was obnoxious, and dense, and too handsome, but he made you feel safe. That's why she never said anything."

That and one other reason. Asami thought to herself.

"There's a lot your friends don't seen in a relationship. It limits their ability to help you. Even when you can't see it."

"What couldn't you see?"

Asami thought for a moment, how to explain this to a twelve year old, and said.

"We spent so long next to each other we didn't realise we weren't puzzle pieces that fit."

The teenager became curious, finally looking over her book to ask her.

"How will you know when you are?"

"You won't have to convince yourselves you're right, it'll just…fit."

Korra came over with Ikki, tucked up in a towel around her shoulders, grinning wide.

"Jinora, you ready to carve it up?"

"Oh maybe later, this is the part of the book where the hero jumps into the volcano - it's so romantic,"

"Oh…kay. Guess it's you and me Sam's, you ready?"

"Wait," Asami made some adjustments to her crown and placed it on Korra, who tensed, only to unclench as Asami ran her hand down the length of her soaked arm. "I wish I had a camera."

"Mom has one!" Meelo hopped up and bolted for the house.

"I wanna make the wall," Asami explained, "And blue really is your colour." she nudged her, slinging her arm across her back as Meelo held the camera high enough to get them in shot.

"I need height!" he demanded and Ikki crawled between his legs and lifted him on her shoulders, "Perfect!" he snapped the shot, "Can you pose better for me than that Korra? You're all stiff."

"Here," Asami said, turning to kiss her cheek. Korra smiled, her laugh bubbling up as her body melted into Asami, also laughing against her. Meelo snapped the shot, and Asami made a mental note to steal it at the earliest convenience as it slid from the mouth of the camera.

Korra put distance between them as they walked to the shore, letting go of Asami's hand finger by finger.

"You're cutting it kind of close don't you think?"

"I wanted a good picture of us," Asami shrugged, "Is that a crime?"

"It may be used as evidence," Korra mused as they waded. Asami took her hand back, as they walked, hiding it under the waves.

"Okay get on." Korra rapped on the board, and Asami did as she was told, "on your knees." Korra got on behind her and started to paddle them forward.

She took them about forty metres in, and turned them to face the beach.

"Now we wait." Korra told her, "Shouldn't be long,"

They swayed in the gentle wobble of the sea beneath them.

"Then what?"

"When the wave starts we'll paddle with it, and then stand up, now we have to do it at the same time or we'll bail, and then we just, surf,"

"That easy huh?"

"For me anyway." Korra shrugged. Asami looked back at her over her shoulder, calculating just how easy it would be to lean back and kiss her, taking into account yaw and torque and the physics of water sports she knew next to nothing about. "What?"

"Does this far out to sea count as a closed door?" Asami wondered aloud.

"I'd like to see you try." Korra laughed. "Eyes front." she ordered, and with an eye roll Asami obeyed.

After a few seconds of consideration, Korra leant forward, and traced her lips over the back of her neck. Asami jolted and they nearly went in.

"Korra!"

"Just proving a point."

Yeah maybe we should go in. Asami thought to herself.

Suddenly she felt Korra's hand warming her thigh.

"Korra?" she breathed.

"It's time - paddle!"

Asami obeyed, it all happened so quickly, Korra was a great teacher, because she guided her up and they were in the curl in no time at all.

Korra took her by her waist and had her back pressed into her front as they carved the great sweep of wave. They were in the barrel, and Asami couldn't help but grip Korra's forearm in fear and exhilaration. It felt like flying.

All of a sudden, her breath left her as she toppled and Korra after her. She was caught by her when they were submerged, and sputtering brought to the surface.

"Are you okay?" Korra yelled, holding her steady.

"Korra that was amazing!" she threw her arms around her neck and held her tight, "Thank you I-" Asami wanted to do two things she knew she shouldn't - kiss her in public and say I love you. She froze at the prospect of it.

"Hold your breath here's another one." Korra told her and prepared she swam deeper down taking Korra with her. She rounded on her in the blue, tangling their legs and pulling her close, aiming a kiss on her lips. Heart pounding, breaths held, Korra angled her head to deepen it in the quiet privacy underwater.

They had to return to reality, and the shore, else they'd drown.

The end was in sight, and Asami swore on the beach she spied the spectre of her ex on the shore.

"Is that?"

"Oh fuck," Korra uttered, hand over her mouth, as though hiding the kiss she'd just received there.

"Asami! Please!"

Iroh bolted towards them, and Asami tensed herself ready for the full force of it all, only Korra stepped between them.

"Haven't you done enough to hurt her?" Korra spat, and Asami watched speechless as he sputtered and attempted to reel in his rage.

"I'm only asking for a second chance, Asami please, three years,"

"You threw them away," Asami pointed accusingly at him, "You left me,"

"And I'm saying I made a mistake."

"It wasn't," Asami told him, "It was my wake up call."

"Asami-,"

"Just go!" Korra snapped.

"And who are you all of a sudden?" Iroh got in Korra's space, suddenly Korra used the back of her hands and pushed into his chest. He wasn't prepared for the force and he landed on his ass in the sand.

"I'm the one fighting for her now," Korra told him calmly.

"Did she tell you what she said to me over the phone?"

The girls shared a look, and Asami gripped Korra's forearm, fingers just edging into her palm.

"She didn't tell you where I was Iroh," Asami stepped past Korra, and crouched to his level.

"Asami-?" Korra warned, not believing what she was hearing. Not expecting the morning to end like this.

"I was in the shower…waiting for her."

Korra noted how it took him a few seconds to get it, and then his whole demeanour shifted.

"You're a lesbian?" Korra wondered if some part of him liked that, "How could you do this to me?"

"To you!"

"We just broke up!"

"Did we? Is that what you did in that cowardly letter telling me you never loved me,"

"I was wrong - I see that now, I didn't know what I had I couldn't, I wasn't in touch with my inner self." he stood, snatching her hands, "I still want you Asami, we can make this right. Make it better,"

Asami stared at him, puzzling over why she was ever with this man in the first place. Suddenly strong arms were hooking up under Iroh's neck and arm pit, and Mako had him in a choke hold.

He struggled and twisted, but Mako - was a cop! And dragging him back towards the side of the house.

"I leave you guys for one week and this is what happens!" Mako muttered.

Asami stared at him as he was dragged and struggled, suddenly the General managed to punch Mako in the nose, and slip free only to have Bolin leap onto his back. Iroh flipped him and advanced, again Korra stepped between him and his ex fiancee.

"You going to hit a girl?" Korra snapped, and he looked both torn and furious at her. Hate slurs teeming on his lips.

Instead he found a sort of calm, and looked over Korra's shoulder to Asami.

"If you loved her you would have been with her a long time ago - I am the one you chose, you can go all over this island and I'll find you and I'll never stop trying to win you back. So I suggest you come home with me. Now."

"Last chance?" Asami asked, hopeful and he softened.

"I'm better now Asami." he stepped back, "You love me, I can see it. You owe me a second chance. For better or worse. I'll wait for you."

Asami's throat locked when she heard the last few words. Mainly with rage, but there was some regret, agony and utter shame mixed in there.

"Go."


	16. Chapter 16

They stood as statues, a tableaux caught in awe, watching him go. Storming off effectively isn't exactly feasible on a beach, where sand encapsulates every stomp.

Korra found her breath heaving, and sense of body returning to her. She was thrumming with adrenaline, feet firmly rooted in the ground she uncoiled, and remembered to breathe.

Asami admired the muscles she could see as they moved, realigning and smoothing out. Korra didn't look back at her, eyes fixed on the shadow shrinking in the distance.

"I can't believe you told him." Her tone was unreadable, which put the heiress on edge given that she couldn't see her best friend's face to read it.

"I just… wanted him gone," Asami breathed, thumbing the headache forming over her nose.

"You wanted to hurt him." Korra surmised, and a pit formed in Asami's stomach when she heard the truth of it, "because you still care,"

"Korra don't-"

"It's okay Asami, really…You're only human." Korra turned to her finally, and presented her with her best wounded smile.

Asami wanted to cup her face and tell her it wasn't true, that in the space of a few days Korra had helped her pummel all traces of the man who had left her. But as she pursed her lips to form the words, it tasted a lie to pretend there were no feelings left. Pain being just one of the many swirling in them.

"Uugh," Bolin groaned on the ground, and Mako stood as he always did, brooding, yet awkwardly pinching his bloody nose.

"So," he began, "Iroh's back."

"You're a cop you say?" Korra teased before hugging him.

"Wha's this I hear about lesbians?" Bolin mumbled in a dream-like state. Asami offered him hands to help him up and pull him lumbering to his feet.

Korra's eyes skated over Asami's before she told him.

"Nothing Bo. Thanks for coming to our rescue,"

"Any time," Bolin wheezed, still breathless from being unceremoniously flipped onto his ass. Korra guided his arm over her shoulders to march him back, leaving Mako and Asami to follow.

To the heiress the world seemed to be spinning, she hugged herself, feeling the early evening sun evaporate the sea from her skin. As she walked she went over all that had happened in her head. So much in such a short space of time.

I was going to marry him, she snatched a look at where he had finally slunk out of view, before training her gaze back onto Korra, look at me.

She wanted to see her face, to see something in it that would tell her everything was going to be okay. Suddenly she remembered what she had thought when first acknowledging these feelings for her best friend, that through it all she couldn't put this on all on her. That Korra isn't responsible for her happiness.

They entered the kitchen to find it full, a lunch buffet on the island, kids darting in and out of Kya's many guests. Only Opal, Kya and Kana had noticed the activity outside. When Korra caught her aunts gaze she shook her head, we'll discuss this later, her eyes said, when there's less people here.

Kya beckoned them in and starting piling a plate for the nearest of the foursome, Bolin being the closest, he seemed to bounce out of his stupor after a few potatoes were stuffed in his cheeks. Asami watched as Korra half-smiled at him, only to be handed another smaller child belonging to one of Meelo, Jinora and Ikki's exhausted looking parents.

On the sidelines Asami watched Korra interact with the family, slipping back in despite not seeing them for months. She felt like an outsider to this world, and in part recognised that this had been everything she had wanted for herself. She also recognised Iroh leaving her left her perhaps decades away from her goal of ever having it. Acute misery befell her and alone in a party, she sidled herself to the edge of it.

Asami hadn't had to visit her happy place in a long time. When one has no emotions, it tends not to be necessary, but after all that had happened, how her immediate vicinity felt crowded and the one person she clung to drifted so far away, eyes open she drifted and let her mind take her in search of serenity.

Back in the day happiness was laying on a patch of grass with a good book, but when she found herself returning after so many years, much had changed there. For example, she realised she'd automatically placed her head in Korra's lap, and her fingers were combing gently over her scalp. She ripped herself away before letting herself linger in its beauty. She couldn't depend on Korra for this, frankly it wasn't fair on her.

So she shifted her dream into a new one, seeking calm serenity, but finding again something else.

The next place was adrift, in the cave with the glittering ceiling and bioluminescent algae swirling around her. A foolish place to pick really, when Asami felt the boat netting clutched beneath her fingers, and Korra rise out of the water in an echo of the memory they had shared not long ago. Gripping her hair, kissing her when it felt like her salvation.

When she tried to push out of this memory she rushed down into another, between the archipelagos in scuba gear, tangled with Korra in the sea.

Dammit.

"Uh-Sami," She snapped out of it, realised on the edge of the party, she wasn't alone. Mako stood at the door beside her, still clutching his nose. He didn't know anyone here, and his trusty friends had both found themselves roles in this new world and forgotten to introduce him into it.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs and into a bathroom.

"You sure this is okay?" he asked as Asami opened the medicine cabinet and piled supplies into his hand.

"Kya won't mind."

"She's the aunt?"

"In simplest terms."

The pair shared companionable silence as Asami worked, mopping blood, and navigating a band aid over the bridge of his nose. Mako waited as she disappeared and threw a white t-shirt his way.

"It's the last one," she explained as he opened it to find ember island is for lovers, emblazoned on the chest.

"I see," he balked, before placing it on his lap and unbuttoning his work shirt.

"So," his tone was once again loaded, and he didn't make eye contact as he postulated a somewhat awkward concept, even for him, "You and Korra."

"You really are a cop,"

"Is that the reason the wedding blew up?"

"It didn't blow up - he left me and Korra was there, she caught me like she always does…but it was different this time, than before, I could see her,"

"Differently?"

Asami only nodded.

"I think I messed things up." she sniffed, eyes closed and leaking and suddenly pressed into the plastic of the lovers on Mako's shirt.

Mako thought himself as a man of few words, truthfully he was one of few useful words. Pressed against him Asami heard him say, "You've just started," he began, "Give it time to breathe,"

She wanted to scathe him about comparing it all to a fine wine, but he was trying to calm her which was awfully nice of him.

"Maybe she's seeing me for the first time too," Asami mused, dabbing her eyes, "Maybe she doesn't like it as much as she thought she would."

"If we want the rewards of being loved we have to submit to the ordeal of being known," Mako recited his hallmark wisdom, in flip flops and nerdy t-shirt, rocking her absent-mindedly as she gathered her heart up from the floor.

"I'm not even sure I know myself anymore," Asami extricated herself from his arms.

"You think maybe Korra knows that?"

Asami only smiled, shrugging, knowing the answer, of course Korra knew her, it showed every bit in every interaction. The more she wondered who she was and what she wanted, she was distracted over and over by the Ice Sculptor's kiss, trapped under her gaze, and the study Korra had begun of every inch of her body.

"It's like a dam broke," she lamented, "and now she's all I can think about."

"That's Korra for you."

"You felt the same when you two dated?"

"Seriously? She was everything, even when we were arguing it was like fighting with the sun. She was headstrong and gung ho, don't get me wrong, it was thrilling, but when you start at 10 where do you go?"

"That's because you were her first anything," Asami remembered, "She's been through it since and well, for Korra, with me she's been… terrified of doing anything wrong."

"Like what?"

"Being open too soon. Telling Iroh too soon."

"That worked out," Asami punched his arm, "Hey! Sorry, sarcasm is my default."

"I love her." it just slipped out, "she won't let me say it, she won't believe it,"

"I mean it is an abstract concept-" Mako deduced, reaching.

"Because it happened so fast." Asami scooped her hair behind her ears and perched on the edge of the tub, "And she's stubborn when she wants to be."

It sounded harsh, but at the words she said it with warmth. Her stubborn Korra. It tasted a luxury to think it, but it consumed her as she tangled her fingers at a criss cross over her chest.

"Love is a big word Asami," Mako chose his next sentence carefully, "You guys have a history and this, this could change all that, for better or worse."

Asami flinched then, and Mako apologised.

"Sorry, I'm just saying since the wedding you guys haven't had a minute by yourselves."

"There was an evening where I…read Iroh's letter alone and became catatonic and Korra went on a date with a local which ended with a fight with…actually she never said if the guy she punched was another local. We ended up spooning…it was nice."

Mako blinked at her. The kind of look that one would give a telenovela when watching for the first time, and then he shook his head.

"I take it back you two are made for each other,"

Asami blushed as she ran her fingers through her hair. Recalling the emotions she's locked away for so long with an ease too complex to name. Jealously, rage, a deep well of ennui and despair, and at the end of it, guiltily twisting her body into Korra's on the bed they had slept in but not fucked in, yet.

"I feel like I'm stealing her. She's being this great friend who happens to have feelings and I'm… taking advantage."

"You're not, you know she'd do anything for you, and it's not like you don't have feelings either."

"But Iroh and this being my honeymoon… It's not fair on her is it?"

"It's gotta come from you." Mako told her simply, "But for the sake of your friendship, you gotta be honest with her,"

Asami studied the words internally, comparing them to the vow the girls had made more than a decade prior.

Best friends come first.

This was all well and good when the pair would compete on a national stage, pitted against each other in the spirit of competition. Where did that leave them when the best friends start sleeping together? When those feelings of hormonal flight or flight were replaced with raw physical attraction and inescapable chemistry?

It was too easy to fall into those fresh memories, pinning Korra to the bed, the look on her face after she kissed her, hair mussed and lips glossy. She'd never seen peace on Korra's expression before, and never felt herself lose herself to the intimacy that came with it. Friendship, while important, could never come close to those moments in the heiress mind.

Perhaps that was the problem.

"Hey guys," The pair snapped to attention at the voice of a brother, Mako's to be exact. "The competitions starting."

Bolin beamed at them beckoning them out.

It was then Asami remembered she'd not long been in the water with Korra, and hadn't seemed to notice in all the adrenaline and argument that she was wet and dripping from the submersion.

Already she could hear the speakers commentate on the first set of competitors. Upon descending the stairs, the trio found the house empty, the commotion of Kya's many guests now occupying the beach outside. Many more were pouring in from the street out front, locals by foot, guests to Ember Island in cabs.

Bolin whisked his brother over to the leftovers on the kitchen island and began piling a plate of everything he'd missed out on.

The heiress took her leave.

Asami scanned the crowd for Korra, only to find her leaning against the side of the house on the back porch, gazing out over what used to be her domain.

"Scoping out the competition?" Asami greeted casually, but kept her hands held behind her back not knowing exactly where they stood.

"Oh I'm not competing," Korra chagrinned arms folded, only looking down when Asami approached.

"You seemed in pretty good shape earlier," Asami watched a newcomer bail on the waves before stealing another look from Korra, "Why wouldn't you?"

Korra shrugged.

"I'm here for you."

She met her eyes then, blue encompassing jade in such a way Asami had to remember the mechanics of breathing.

Inflate lungs, ingest, deflate…deflate!

"I got a kick out of watching you earlier." she shot back, "and swimming with you after…was nice."

Korra pursed her lips, remembering the after for herself.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok," Asami answered swiftly, to which Korra raised an eyebrow.

"Your ex fiancé pledges to win you back after you confess an affair with me and you're just ok?"

"It's not an affair Korra." Asami shot back sternly, fighting the urge to kiss her, and kiss her hard in the next moment.

"Hey lovebirds."

If they were tense before, it paled in comparison to the ice that shot through them at the sound of that voice.

"How's your little drama going?"

The pair stared at the goddess with the board under her arm in front of them. Asami's eyes raked up the long muscular thighs, board shorts, six pack and under eye beauty mark of one Kuvira.

"We're going for the Oscar this year," Asami shot a smile at her, quick and forced.

"Good, good, what's a story without some good old fashioned rivalry? Korra - you game?" she lifted her board and nodded toward the water, "Care another dance?"

Asami felt jealously like a brand on her stomach. Which was ridiculous, all for temporarily losing a dancing partner.

"Not this time." Korra shook her head.

"Oh come on - Aang would do it."

"She said no." Asami snapped, shocking them both.

"I guess your best friend has spoken, I'm sorry fiancé, no wait, that was Iroh."

Asami was stunned to silence as the bartender gloated and sneered.

"Say hi to him for me."

She didn't know she had lunged before Korra held her back by the shoulders. She was lost in the crowd before Korra let her go, but Asami could swear she could spy a smug black head bobbing in the weave.

"She just wanted a rise." Korra surmised.

"I can't believe you dated her. She seems nice, she likes ice!" Korra slid her hands away then and immediately she found her missing the touch.

"That's not fair." Korra mumbled, "You said to go," she picked at the paint at the wall, deflated and defeated.

"I…" Asami trailed off, choosing her words carefully. "Didn't understand what I felt,"

"Do you now?"

"Of course," Asami replied unflinchingly, "Do you?"

Korra gave a heavy sigh and ran her fingers through drying hair.

"I don't buy that you're over him."

"I never said I was,"

"Then what are we doing?"

"How many times do I have to, kiss you, confess to you or fuck you in closets before you see that you are everything to me-?"

"Right now?" Korra tacked the sentiment onto the end of her sentence.

"Korra!" Another voice from the crowd, this one was hip-height and dragging a board behind him much larger than his own spindly little body, "We entered you in the next heat!"

"Meelo I'm not-"

"Listen, listen, listen, Korra," the eight year old dropped the board to tick reasons off his fingers, "My whole family didn't come all this way to see strangers win the cup and the glory - I am not old enough to compete so you gotta do it."

"I appreciate the sentiment-"

"But nothing!" Meelo shot back, tiny and tyrannical in his debate, "Koov, Kuuv," he huffed, "Vera is up your competitor, she works for aunt Kya, but I don't know her from Meelo,"

It took Asami a moment to recognise he had replaced the 'Adam' in the phrase with his own name, but when she focused on the matter being proposed she urged.

"Do it." Korra looked at her quizzically, "Crush her." Asami answered the look, and surprised her by leaning forward and kissing her on the cheek. "I'll be waiting."

"Thank you beautiful lady," Meelo bowed to her, before grabbing Korra's hand dragging her through the crowd.

"Come on," Asami jumped to find Ikki and Jinora had been listening in, "We'll show you the best spot to watch from." Both girls took a hand each and led her left, far left away from the crowd and over a set of cliffs, low enough so that the surfers could be seen closer than any point on the land.

A collection of sodas, towels and camping chairs had been gathered there for the occasion, and Ikki pointed at the middle seat and said.

"We saved you a seat."

Asami balked and blushed nervously, she'd never warranted this amount of care from strangers before, let alone child strangers.

"Thank you."

Jinora cracked open a soda and handed it to her.

"You're welcome."

"This is all so nice and unnecessary, the chairs are enough really."

"We like you," Jinora shrugged.

"We like the way Korra likes you."

"Ikki!"

Ikki fled behind Asami and stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"We're best friends." Asami shrugged, vying for a chair, desperate to extricate herself from the questions of two tween girls.

"If you say so," Jinora took the seat beside her and Ikki the other side.

"She fought that man for you!"

"You saw that?"

"Was he your ex?"

"I-yes,"

"He seems mean."

"I'm glad Korra could protect you."

"I can protect myself," Asami protested.

"Which means you can protect her too." Ikki leaned her head on Asami's arm on the chair, contorting herself into a lying cradle position with her legs slung over the other arm of her own.

"I guess it does." Asami mused, looking over as the green and blue competitors skimmed the water below for the first round.

As they waited the darkening sky opened, and rain poured down on them, growing stronger with every second.

Jinora produced an umbrella and sheltered herself and Asami, Ikki didn't seem to mind and sat perched on the edge of her seat.

"What'd I miss?" Meelo came skidding to the cliffs edge and perched himself next to himself.

"Well it's raining." Ikki pointed out and he gurned at her.

"Bigger waves - Go Korra!"

Asami's heart constricted as she waved up at them as though she could hear.

The ocean started to swell harder and eventually large enough waves caught their interest. Soon enough Asami was standing with the siblings on the edge, desperate for a closer look as the boards soared and ripped along the tunnels and swirl.

It seemed they were evenly matched. It was as though every technique, every move, every path onto the greatest surf were obvious, and the two of them were neck and neck reading the waves as though it were a book. Before Asami could fathom the skill of it all the waters wracked more unevenly and furiously than ever. Her eyes followed the pair as they entered the final tunnel of their heat.

Kuvira came out.

Korra didn't.

Asami swore she saw the rain stop pouring, frozen mid air as she searched the cloudy blue angry surf below. Finally she watched directly below her feet, and saw the brown and blue shape tangled with the netting before the cliff face.

She couldn't tell you what happened from this moment to the next - the face of the sea rushing toward her as she dived.

It took a moment to get her bearings, as it was raining above a sandstorm had broken out below. Korra's ankle was tangled in the netting, that much she could make out and as she floated toward her she could see the board on the other side of it, under the current and yanking her under the surface.

Asami clawed her rope and velcro at her ankle desperately to free her. When she finally did she hooked her from under her shoulder and pushed them up toward the air following the bubbles as she had once before in a dream.

But she couldn't think on that now, she was acting on instinct, the words tumbling from her lips.

"Korra_ look at me baby_ are you hurt?"

"That was so dangerous." she coughed, "You dived from the cliff!" Korra gripped her by her arms, beaming and shaking.

Asami rolled her eyes and kissed her fiercely, and as the rain that shielded them from view began to dissipate and sea calm, she kissed and kissed and it felt like breathing. This was all she knew for certain she wanted. _I can't let her go._


	17. Chapter 17

"What made you decide to show up?" Kuvira jibed as Korra lay her board on the water.

"Oh you know," Korra kicked off the ground and started to paddle, "Trying to impress a girl."

"At least you're admitting it." Kuvira shrugged.

"Took a while," Korra shot back nonchalantly, downplaying the epic hopeless truth of it. Much progress had been made in the last few days, the weight of her guilty crush on her best friend now lifted, only to reveal the plethora of new insecurities nestled beneath it.

Korra waited on still waters, watching the fans on the shore, only to blink as a drop hit her in the eye. She'd been too lost in her own thoughts to notice the blackening sky.

The swell beneath them started gathering, and the pair smiled independent of each other, the challenge rocked beneath them.

Korra heard her name from above, without thinking she gazed up at the cliff above them. Her heart skipped at the silhouettes on deck chairs, perched on the lip. She waved at them, Ikki and Meelo waved back.

"Look I'm sorry, about how I reacted on our date." the voice closest to her surprised her, and she looked back at Kuvira mounted on her board. Korra waited to hear the rest, "I have a tendency to lash out, I don't make excuses for it."

"I wasn't in the best place either," Korra admitted, looking up at Asami, helpless to resist catching her every movement. She was standing now, on the edge of the cliff in the swirling rain.

"You were being a _tease_," Kuvira jibed.

"I'm a walking trope okay? Typical gay falls for her best friend and don't I know it."

"I saw what you were up against, _Mr Perfect, _I'd wait too," There was a softness in Kuvira's voice then, one that she didn't expect and but had noticed once before, when they were honest and alone.

"You met Iroh?"

The was a pause, the rain began to bluster and waves became choppy, in the distance behind them the swirls started forming. For once Kuvira was lost for words.

"You told him where we were?" Korra surmised.

_"Of all the gin joints,_" Kuvira quoted, shrugging.

"He went _berserk_," Korra's voice started to rise over the din of the storm, and soon enough they were yelling back and forth.

"At least now you don't have to hide anymore._ You're welcome_,"

"Did you major in being a bitch?" Korra asked her, beleaguered and exasperated.

"I dabble, and actively practice it."

Korra didn't reply as she bent forward to paddle with the wind at her back and the curl jutting beneath her board.

Muscle memories twitching her legs and ankles just so as she stood, she proudly started carving the glassy underside of the wave. Kya once told Korra that, like her father, she had the _knack, _the inherit talent for flying on the water. Kuvira was but a spec on her radar.

They returned to the fold to a smattering of applause, but this was only heat one and they were just getting started. Korra flipped back, not even stopping to see the scores before swimming to the hilt of the next wave. The rain against her face, jaw set she scored the next arc as though leaving a trail of fire behind her, lapping over the top and somersaulting sideways and landing it flawlessly.

She snatched a look at the woman on the rock above her, and tried not to think about how much she wanted to impress her.

She felt 16 again, fighting her best only when Asami was around to see it.

"It's nice to see you take chances superstar," Kuvira yelled at her, smug grin plastered over her lips.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Korra couldn't stop herself from taking the bait.

"Based on your track record I thought you'd be more passive," Kuvira looked up at the rock beside them, "After all you waited for her to get dumped before staking your claim,"

"She's not-You don't know what you're talking about,"

"I'm trying to help you," Kuvira yelled back, "How many love stories start out with a broken heart?"

"If this is your flirting it's not working," Korra muttered feeling heat rush up her neck.

"What _was_ your plan then? If he did marry her?"

"To _Suffer_! Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Korra hated the look Kuvira gave her then, undeniable pity marred her features and suddenly their whole dynamic shifted.

The ocean was rougher and harsher now, and something in the back of Korra's mind told her to stop, another told her the rewards were greater. Already she was being carried into the biggest tube of the bout, darker and more looming than the rest. All the while Kuvira's words bled into her brain like a poison.

What would have been haunted her; Asami at the altar with Iroh; returning from the honeymoon and telling her all about mere thought of Iroh in her place drove her mad. Even the very real memory of Asami showing her the ring proudly. She felt a sickness in her chest as envy gripped her. It never would have happened if she'd had her way, silent and suffering.

She felt disgust at herself then, what she had thought was being a true friend felt cowardly by comparison. An evil thought pulsed her thoughts, _Asami was settling. _It formed a pit and punched her gut, and suddenly she flinched and found she had steered into Kuvira's path. Korra saw the whites of her eyes before darting desperately out of the way. It was her undoing.

Under the blue was a vortex into a fierce tangle of net and weed. Before she could curse herself out she couldn't tug out of the trap she'd quite literally made herself. Her board, attached by rope to her ankle, acting as a sail and anchor tugging her down. Every time she fought a new problem gripped her, and as the panic set in she didn't notice the woman ascending upon her.

Asami unravelled the board first, tearing at the clasp and watching it get ripped away by the tide.

Mesmerised she felt calm as familiar hands set her free, cupped her cheeks, held her close.

"Korra _look at me baby _are you hurt?"

"That was so dangerous." she coughed, and inhaled deep, "You dived from the cliff!"

Asami rolled her eyes and kissed her fiercely. Korra knotted her fingers in her hair to keep her close, kissing her in the waves and the rain, getting lost in the tempest of Asami Sato breathing life back into her bones. The sea began to calm, and Asami took a grip on the netting to steady them, left arm keeping Korra tucked against her. Her kisses petered off as she realised Korra probably needed a moment to catch her breath.

For that the Ice Sculptor was grateful titling her head back and absorbing the woman pressed into her.

"You didn't answer my question," Asami pressed.

"I'm fine," Korra breathed, "I just lost my head a little,"

"It looked like you were about to _drown_."

"It's a good thing you saved me then isn't it?" Korra jibed, meeting her eyes again, seeing the locks of stray hair that had fallen into her eyes, begging to be pushed back, and watching her lips tug as though about to say something important.

"What?" Korra asked.

Asami kissed her again instead.

"Nothing," she lied, taking her hand and guiding her, shaking limbs and boardless, toward the shore. Korra suddenly felt an affinity for the men in tales lured by sirens; she knew then how it felt to be powerless to follow.

It was an odd feeling, to go from weightlessness, to standing and the weight of the world returning. The ocean clawed at Korra's ankles, as though warning her not to go. She looked down at the pale palm in hers and decided against it.

The sun was shining after all.

Suddenly the hand was yanked away, and Asami was rounding on her opponent; who had been running toward them with perhaps the tiniest amount of concern in her expression.

The next set of surfers kicked off, and it wasn't long before interest of the crowd was turned toward the new.

"What are you playing at?" Asami snapped. Pointing a finger, eyes turned fierce and familiar fight reflex raising her adrenaline.

Kuvira bit her smug smile while raising her palms in surrender, shocked and bemused by it all. While Korra took hold of her wrist this time and warned.

"Asami don't-"

"I don't know what you did but Korra almost got ki-"

_"It was me,_" Korra interjected, "I took my eye off the ball."

Asami turned to her, off balance but softening under her gaze.

"Are you okay?"

Korra nodded, slipping her hand down her wrist to squeeze her fingers.

"Look at you defending her honour, for a second there I thought you'd kick my ass,"

Asami rounded on Kuvira again, only to snap her gaze back to Korra who shot back.

"That privilege is reserved for me,"

"I honestly don't see it."

She felt the respect they had for each other fall off of them like waves and she was buffeted by the notion she was missing pieces of the conversation. Kuvira scrutinised her, as though something in her gait gave away the decades of martial arts training Asami had accumulated.

"What are you looking for?"

"A demonstration perhaps?"

"Korra!" small voices came from the crowd behind them, and the conversation stopped.

Ikki ran and hugged the Surfer, Jinora smiled and Meelo stopped his run to stand tapping his foot expectantly on the sand.

"I'm sorry Meelo, I guess I needed more training."

The boy inspected her before shrugging.

"I guess a comeback story has to start with a humiliating defeat,"

"_Humiliating_?" Korra exclaimed before he barrelled into her arms.

"That flip was pretty dope though." Kuvira nudged her, and Korra smiled despite herself, gaze flashing between the two green eyed women, and experiencing the strange auras mixing in her chest from the both of them.

"Let's get a drink," Korra finally blurted, leading Asami by the hand she still held to the bar they spent their first night drinking in.

Bolin, Opal and Mako had already found their way to the bar, and while waiting for the storm to pass has familiarised themselves with old friends, Whiskey, Rum and Tequila. Korra instinctively dropped Asami's hand as they approached and were greeted with a wall of - _waheey_!

"What is Mako wearing?" Korra asked Asami.

"He's really feeling the island spirit,"

Their spiky haired friend had procured himself with a beverage with an umbrella, hibiscus crown and glassy vacation eyes in the time they had left him.

"It actually suits him," Korra mused, glancing shyly at her companion. A cacophony of voices told her to reclaim the hand she had dropped, but in all the noise she could manage but a few fingers curling through the index and middle of Asami's right.

The heiress noticed this, but said nothing as she pursed her lips and stepped into the bar, this time leading Korra. Their three friends caught the interaction, Opal the knowing, Bolin the Oblivious and Mako the Uncharacteristically Giddy.

"I think being relaxed looks good on anyone," the heiress surmised, "it's just not a look we've ever seen on _him_," Asami smiled and shared the warmth of it with only Korra.

She couldn't put her finger on the many mood changes the pair had undergone in the last few hours alone. They were in a boiling pot of pent up emotion, unsaid things, and unresolved tension. The very earth beneath their feet made up of volatile shifting tectonic plates, that failed to ease the pressure beneath thus far.

But all Asami wanted was another moment alone with Korra. Before she could raise the issue Kuvira was pushing drinks in their hands. The kids had lost interest in the notion of simply consuming liquids and gone to watch the next bout.

"Korra tells me you guys met when you quote _kicked her ass?"_

"It was a pee-wee MMA competition - someone had to come out on top!" Korra defended,

"Ah so you admit she's the top?"

Asami watched as the heat rushed to Korra's ears and made them gleam, adorable when flustered.

"I'd say at this point we're omni until a status quo is decided," Asami surprised herself when she added it. She had to admit it was fun to brag about sex, she could never do it with her best friend before, well, at least not in this context.

"Korra was the biggest baddest bitch in the place. I was a new starter to the club. I had to build up a rep."

"I underestimated you then but I did not after that. I'd say we were evenly matched."

"You call 89 over 73 even?"

"You counted?"

"You _didn't?_"

Korra's mind boggled, they'd fought hundreds of times, but she'd never looked at the numbers. She might've guessed why Asami had won so often though; it's hard to fight against your crush with conviction.

_"Teenage Korra had a thing for braces." _She recalled, only to find her blush increase tenfold as she realised what she'd just admitted.

"You're not telling me you were holding back 89 times? I had you fair and square end of, that's the total."

"I think we have a new more real total nowadays, is all…I'm saying." Korra began to reel herself in but Asami looked at her, semi angry but mostly curious, Korra was peeling back years of hiding right before her eyes.

"What_ real total_?"

"What do you call 15 over 8?" Korra shot back sipping her drink and Asami's mouth dropped open in shock. Asami knew _exactly _what those toe curling, hair pulling, pleasure screaming numbers meant.

"15 what over 8 _what?" _Kuvira asked, certain of the answer when Korra only sipped her drink in response.

"Korra I can't believe you!"

"What? It's not like we're ever going to spar again, we've got new priorities now."

"Ugh!" Asami huffed taking Korra's drink and putting down hers with it. She placed a hand on her chest and pushed her, walking backwards until she stepped off the stage and her feet hit sand.

"_What are you doing_?" Korra balked, appalled and decidedly aroused as Asami tied her hair up in a messy bun front of her.

"Starting a new total, are you ready?"

Korra watched her open her stance, her lithe long body an exemplar of power and prowess. She raked her eyes over the lines and determined set of her perfect jaw and could think of nothing better than finding a way to wrap her body around hers.

"Let's do it." Korra grinned at her.

"Bolin, Opal - Can you judge this?"

"_Hajime_!" Opal yelled from her seat at the bar, and Korra had but a moment to let her brain catch up before catching Asami's hands.

She deflected and twisted on the sand, one foot rooted, the other high which Asami elegantly dodged. The heiress returned the kick with one of her own, but Korra caught this in the crux between crossed wrists, and she lifted the leg as high as it would go. Asami fell back and let her hands take her into a back flip.

They're both rusty, and slower than they remember ever being, but in each moment they find new appreciation for the other. The muscle memory comes together, and each movement is graceful and synchronised as perfectly as a dance. Until Asami breaks the cycle, that was almost becoming something else, by tugging on Korra's shoulder, falling on her back, tucking her feet into Korra's diaphragm and launching her behind her.

"Did you just _sacrifice_ me?" Korra asked bewildered, and Asami could only laughed as she got back onto her feet.

Flustered, thrumming, the Ice Sculptor rounded on her and launched herself so either leg landed on either of Asami's shoulders. They hit the sand with a thud, but the heiress wasn't down for long, twisting, using her famed legs to turn the tide she had Korra's arms pinned either side of her head, and her hips gripped tight with the length of her thighs.

They'd garnered quite an audience, who'd started to clap as it was clear who was victor as Korra looked up at Asami mounting her.

The pair didn't move however, Korra looked up at her, pupils blown wide and chest heaving, adrenaline scoring through her veins hot and pumping. She could fight, but it was the last thing she wanted to do right now. Asami looked down at her, finding it impossible to look away from those eyes, those eyes whom she'd pinned 89 times before, and never noticed how all encompassing they were. Never once had she defeated Korra, and as she looked down on her, wanted to seal the bout with a kiss, never once, until now.

Chests heaving, throat dry, she finally uttered, quietly so only Korra could hear.

"_Take me somewhere_."

She could only nod and wait for Asami to unclench her fingers. Korra couldn't hear the jibes from Kuvira and Bolin as blood pumped in her ears. Asami didn't notice the looks they got as they wordlessly got to their feet and she followed Korra through the bar, past their friends and out of sight.

"Those guys are in a world of their own today." Bolin mused as he watched them go.

"Oh hun," Opal whispered rubbing is sweet innocent drunk little head.

Behind the bar, nestled in the trees was a small shack. Asami had expected to be led back to the house, but trusted Korra implicitly, waiting patiently for her to unlock it, careful not to touch her.

Korra takes the combination padlock, guides Asami inside, turns and locks the door behind them. In the sheets of light peeking through the shack wood the heiress can make out long shavings, tools mounted on the walls, broken and in progress surf boards, a couch and a mini fridge.

"Is this-" Asami doesn't wait for her to finish that sentence before kissing her. Petal lips bruising, their contact somewhere between their usual gentle selves with the heightened taut nature of post fight bodies. Korra turns her against the wood and pushes her roughly against it, teeth nibbling at her throat as she pulls at the tie in Asami's hair. Letting the tendrils free against her back as Korra's lips ride the curves and valleys of her body, fingers tugging down shorts over her hips.

"Ah!" Asami knotted her fingers in Korra's hair as she guided her legs over shoulders, angled her hips and wasted no time in parting her with two fingers and teasing her clit with her tongue. Asami felt pleasure of it behind her eyes and closed them to keep it all in, Korra trapping her against the door, holding her up, filling her and fucking her.

_Who knew fighting could be foreplay? _was the last thing she could think before her mind was reduced to bright lights, obscenities and immeasurable pleasure.

They were finishing what they had started that morning, before they had been rudely interrupted. So many things that had fallen out of place were put back, as Korra's fingers pulled a 16th orgasm out of her friend in as many days, twitching around her fingers and keening behind pursed lips as she tried to stifle the sound.

It couldn't help but feel different, as though the interruptions had shifted their world view by a simple degree.

As Korra stood and balanced Asami on her now shaky legs, a solemn air tinged the moment. As the heiress put her hand on her chest and pushed her back until her knees hit couch and she had no choice but to fall back, Korra felt her old doubts, the fresh poison rear its ugly head if only for a moment.

Asami undressed her, kissing every inch of salty skin she revealed and worshipping as though on borrowed time. She let her fingers tease, circling nipples and nails scraping gently over her stomach before hovering, barely touching the wetness gathered between her legs.

Korra absorbed the still moment, the in-between, the excitement, guiding Asami's mouth over hers, biting her lip, tasting her tongue. With her free hand she rested it on the back of Asami's, waiting for the moment her fingers would rush past entrance. Needing to feel the closeness of that moment, connected and together. Unable to shake the thought that moments like these were numbered.

Desperate to make it count, Asami didn't let up until the odds were even, cradling her head, lips tracing her flushed skin, even tasting her intoxicating sweat. The heiress fucked her until her arm went numb, as though her ex were waiting outside to take her kicking and screaming away from it all. From Korra whose face she peppered with loving kisses, whose hand burned a mark forever into her skin as she held the arm that fucked her, whose very being made her chest feel like it was glowing.

Shaken and off balance they clung to each other, right until the heiress slotted her body over the exhausted sculptor. Her warm breath huffing into her neck.


	18. Chapter 18

Asami felt pure joy, watching Korra beneath her, trying to catch her breath. She never expected to be tucked against the back of a musty sofa, skin flush with Korra and a mix of sweat and drying sea water. Still, these last few days with Korra had been anything but ordinary, and she treasured this next strange moment all the same.

Eyes closed Korra felt Asami's right hand meet her cheek and her lips press under her jaw. She could even detect the fingertips on her left stroking her hair line above her ear. Korra knew how kind she could be from their long friendship, but she never imagined what it was to feel loved by her. Her chest was full by it, and she was afraid to breathe for fear it would leak out.

"I hope this is consolation," the heiress told her nosing where'd she'd kissed. Korra was, as always, was caught off guard by the affection and took a minute to respond.

"For what?"

"For getting your ass kicked twice in one day."

Korra laughed at her, and made a show of turning them both, Korra pinning her hands above her head and telling her.

"Pinning you beneath me comes with new meaning now,"

"And that meaning is?" The heiress feigned innocence as Korra leaned in close to whisper into her ear.

"I'm the top."

"What no!" Asami struggled, laughing unreservedly as her best friend tangled her legs with her own and kissed her neck.

"You see the reason I couldn't beat you is simple,"

"Is it now?

"Mhm it's because…" Korra punctuated her pause with another kiss to her neck "I never wanted you to submit." as Korra spoke the sound was as soft Asami had she'd ever heard it, soothing, and vulnerable in the dark. Asami never thought she'd ever hear beauty in a voice. "I want you to be free," she kissed the crook between her neck and shoulder "to let you go wild." To prove her point her own grip on the heiress came loose, tan hands palming the long expanse of her wrists, her elbows still together, fingers feeding into her hair, "To feel your hands on me."

Asami felt the touch like a blaze on her flesh, eyes closed as she detected fingertips framing her jaw and chin.

"If that's true how did you ever beat me? 73 times."

"I'm still a better fighter than you," she gloated, "I beat everyone else in our age group except you, and you could never get past Tye Lee, and Mai, and Azula," grinning that smug crooked grin, she reared her head back and Asami saw her eyes, blue, open and honest, "But when you touched me I felt things, oh how I felt them, when I knew I shouldn't be. You're my friend, my best friend, I couldn't accept how good it made me feel. Not in this way. That's what I was fighting. It's a losing battle."

"You were pretty deep in that closet huh?"

"Only for you," Korra replied. Asami caught the sad twinge she only caught in flashes before.

Asami watched her then, throwing her mind back. Korra had never discussed her sexual preferences with her, it came almost casually, when a once-fling kissed her in public and Korra gave no reaction one way or the other. It wasn't something she kept from the world, but from Asami, she'd built a wall around it, carefully constructed, maintained with silence and kept secure. I'm not comfortable talking about it, she used to say, omitting the with you, she'd add in her head.

Asami thought she just wasn't the type of person to kiss and tell, but as she analysed her wording, her behaviour, it all became clear. Asami was the only person whom she hid herself from.

"What would you have done?" the words fell out of her, and Asami knew probing into world beyond that wall. The time before Ember Island, and what Korra had planned on doing as she watched her sail away with someone else. Someone she considered to be the wrong person.

Korra's openness veiled. She sat back on her heels, pulled a blanket from behind her and feigned cold, shivering and angling her eyes away.

"I don't know." the lie was bare faced, and staggering.

"Yes you do Korra," Asami was stern, but careful to keep her hands connected to her thigh as she sat up to meet her gaze.

Korra was mute, and throat closing as she shook her head softly.

"If I had married him, you would have let me go?"

"You know the answer, why ask?"

"I want to know what my life would have looked like, I would've needed you Korra, I wouldn't have let you go."

"I would have been the same," Korra could only look at her a few seconds at a time as she spoke, "Just hiding my feelings,"

"Pulling further away more like,"

"That wasn't my intention,"

"That's what you were doing," Asami's thumb traced an arc over her thigh, "I was losing you because you refused to tell me,"

"I was hoping distance would make it easier."

"So I would have come home after three weeks and what? You wouldn't care anymore."

"I would've been your friend, and not…"

"What Korra?" Asami's hand cupped her cheek and made her look at her, "Your feelings were valid - do you understand this?"

Korra's face pinched, shutting her eyes as the wall eclipsed her.

"Even if I was with him forever, even if I could never feel that way back, what you felt, was yours to go through. I hate that you went through it alone K,"

"What would you have done if I had told you? With your new husband, year one of your hundred year plan to further the Sato-Iroh dynasty?"

"I would have done everything to keep you." Asami leaned in closer this time, pressing her forehead to her own in attempt to pass the belief onto her. "You think I'm going to lose my best friend over some man?" her voice was breaking, breathy, kind, "At worst we would have talked it through, and best, well, look at us now,"

"You would've cheated on your husband?" Korra scoffed sceptically, but Asami answered without a beat.

"Yes."

Korra opened her eyes finally, and Asami could see the cogs shifting in her mind, processing it all.

"You said it yourself, he wasn't right for me. It might've taken a month, a year, maybe more but it would have fallen apart. It was only a matter of time before I started to see you like I see you now. It only took a second of you catching me to get it."

"You think while you were crying and broken you were in any state to choose who you want to be with?"

"You were there. He wasn't." The heiress stressed, "I would have been miserable, I would have made the worst mistake of my life and I would have come running to you. Maybe I would've felt trapped, I would have designed and redesigned that kitchen and spent my evenings pensively holding a wineglass like a desperate fucking housewife, but sooner or later, after you'd held me weeping, after I figured how good it felt to press my face into your neck, and fall asleep in your arms…how right it felt… I would've needed those moments, and stolen them as much as I could. I would have wanted you to kiss me… I would have asked you to fuck me against the marble counter tops with rose gold furnishings or absolutely rail me against the smart touch screen fridge while his pot roast goes cold on the stove."

Korra's lips felt a smile tugging at her lips, but she barely allowed it, as her hand rested on her wrist.

"Would you have taken off your diamond? While I was thoroughly replacing him?" her tone was dark, and chills coursed up Asami's spine as she spoke. Of course Korra wanted to agree with her, wanted to run off into the next sunset, take his place and be content with that. However, this was her best friend, and she had a hard time telling her anything but the truth as of late, and these were the thoughts that plagued her. "You wouldn't have called me to your new well designed mansion because he brushed you off or left you feeling lonely? I wouldn't have been filling some man sized hole where he should be?"

Asami rescinded her hands, even though it was the opposite Korra flinched as though she'd been slapped. Like that she knew exactly what she'd done, staring at the disconnect she'd broken between them.

Asami was gaining distance now, and there wasn't anything she could say to repair the damage, her lips felt numb and nagging thoughts fell finally, utterly silent.

"You're never going to see this are you?"

Korra remained silent. All she could think about was sand, and her fingers could feel the sensation of it pouring through her fingers. She heard its sizzle as Asami stood and gathered her clothes, eyes glassy, tears drawing lines on her cheeks. To say she couldn't believe what she was seeing would taste a lie, she had been holding her breath, waiting for Asami to wake up and smell the coffee, that this was wrong and she should run. The scene before her Korra wholly expected and couldn't bring herself to stop it.

After dressing Asami opened the door and stopped, turning back but not raising her eyes high enough to see Korra's staring back, stoic and lost.

"Do you remember how you felt when we kissed for the first time?" Their eyes met, and Korra couldn't stand the sharp sting the jade delivered to her heart, "Try to remember that."

When the door was shut, Korra could never recall ever feeling so empty. The most important part of her had just walked out.

She sat back on the couch and stared up at the roof of the shack she'd never intended to return to. She knew it well, her heights were marked on a beam behind her. Her father hadn't returned either by the look of it, the board he was shaping still half carved where he left it, their sanctuary until this night, had been left untouched.

She could almost see him, polishing the wood and shaking his head at her.

"We didn't raise you to be a fool Korra," he'd say, not looking up from his craft.

Korra felt the itch in her hands once again, pulling a shirt over head, body thrumming with adrenaline as she did so. No pretending, Korra thought to herself lifting the smoothing plane on the half finished board, what a dumb idea.

It took everything in Asami not to look back. As she pushed through the stream of people she listened for the door to open behind her but no sound came, so she headed for the ones opening and closing in the cars and cabs ahead of her.

She barely mumbled the hotel name to the driver before laying on the back seat, eyes leaking and head throbbing. Regret burned in her stomach like a pit. She should have told her how she felt, but what use was telling a wall she loved her?

I fell in love with you when you broke my nose. Korra's words floated through her head, and she clung to them. It was proof she warmed like a bird, fragile in her hands. Korra had lived for so long without even this.

Her face, she thought, she was so resigned to it. Like that she was inundated by guilt, she'd broken her best friend. She was like a goldfish, but instead of slowly acclimatising her to the carefully treated water bit by bit; she had been thrown in a boiling hot tub laced with metaphorical STDs.

She tried to think back to how they used to be, the way Korra used to look at her. She was always slow to smile at her, even in return, but what a sweet one it was. Asami had assumed the accident had taken its toll on her conduct, once free wheeling and head strong, she became tense, anxious and would jump when Asami surprised her. Now Asami knew maybe she only did that for another reason entirely.

It was the answer to a thousand small questions Asami'd had, but never thought enough of to ask.

Once when she'd visited Korra in her workshop, the Ice Sculptor had been working on a commission of an ice Michelangelo's David, and from outside the room Asami heard her whistling and singing. She stayed rooted in her spot to listen to the alien sound, in between the familiar chips and clinking tools, a beautiful voice at peace. When Asami stepped inside she continued for a few seconds before catching her reflection in the power saw and lopping off the cock of her latest work.

In the present, leaving the cab, Asami chuckled at the memory, wiping her tears and feeling warmth in her chest. She loves me. She thought the words over and over, trying to wring every last bit of comfort out of them.

Those feelings dissipated when she saw Iroh hunched over a cocktail in the hotel lobby bar. He stood when he saw her, stool falling over.

She knew how she looked, just-fucked and soar eyes from crying, hair turning to straw from the salt in the sea.

"So you're stalking me now?" she raised her chin and levelled her eyes.

"Asami-"

"Shut up!" she silenced him with a hand, and strangely felt everyone in the room stop what they were doing, even the staff seemed to stop and stare.

Asami studied him, wounded and contrite, and found every cell in her body utterly incapable of dealing with his ego right now. She turned on her heel, trying not to remember the last time she marched to her room, the way it felt Korra led her there. But of course this time, Iroh was following.

"Three years, we lived together, ate together, fucked together and we almost get married and you have nothing else to say to me?"

"Emphasis on the almost," Asami called back without skipping a step.

"Asami - please, stay, talk to me!"

"Why should I when you didn't have the balls to stand up there with me on the aisle and say I don't!"

"So what? You spend a week with her, fucking her, get what you needed and you're done? Where is she anyway, or did you stomp her ass into the sand too?"

With that Asami rounded, he almost slammed into her but she jabbed her finger in his chest.

"Don't you dare speak about her that way. She'd been better to me than you ever where."

"I hurt you…I know this, I want to atone, rebuild what we had, it's not too late…Asami I still want that family you wanted, I can be your husband, please, I want to spend the rest of my life making up for what I've done to you."

Asami watched him, disgust dissipating in her eyes. Iroh tensed as she stepped back into his space, and placed her hand on his cheek.

"You were right the first time Iroh," she told him gently, "What you were feeling were valid feelings," Her thumb stroked his cheek and he gripped her wrist, "but you not telling me those feelings isn't a relationship. It was a lie. As for the rest well, I don't want to wake up every morning to someone making me pancakes because you feel sorry for what you did, I don't want to look at the shame in your eyes."

"I love you,"

"Is that what you thought when you wrote that poisonous letter?"

"I-"

"Instead of your vows. You were exploring the depths of your love and…you saw it before even I did, Korra was there to pick up the slack, I have more pictures of Korra than of you, does that not make it clearer?"

"I'll regret that letter for the rest of my life-"

"It's too late Iroh, my eyes are open now…I only see her."

When she walked this time, Iroh didn't follow, the weight of her words pinning him to the floor.

Adrenaline coursed through her, legs shaking, ground trembling beneath her feet all she wanted was to curl up in bed. Her mind narrowed with purpose she didn't notice the bell hop spotting her and excitedly muttering "Eat, pray, love!" under his breath.

When she ripped open the door of their room, eager to bury into her single bed she stopped. The room had been rearranged, the twin cots inexplicably replaced with a queen size bed covered in rose petals. Her heart stopped at the sight of it, and so did the world.

For a moment she was lost in the memories of the last night, and morning, she spent here. Enraptured in the arms of her best friend, making her see stars and forget all the sadness that led up to it. All that sadness came crashing down on her now.

She came to curled up sobbing. She'd ripped the sheets from the bed, scattering pillows and petals.

It'd been a while since she'd cried herself to sleep, longer still since she'd cried herself to sleep without arms to hold her together. Alone she fell apart. Her dreams gave way to nightmares of the ground opening up and swallowing Korra whole before she got to talk to her.

When she woke, it wasn't by choice, the phone had been ringing off the hook. She cursed the good samaritan on the cleaning staff who'd decided to reconnect it.

She fumbled with the receiver, but as she was about to give the caller a piece of her mind the voice on the other end stopped her dead.

"Asami? Did I get the right room?"

"Yes, Korra you did… Is everything alright?"

"That's subjective," Korra responded evenly, but Asami could feel the tension in her back as she spoke.

She wanted to ask how she was feeling, she wanted to know if she finally believed her, but the venom of their last encounter still stung her, and kept her words inside.

"I know we need to talk," Korra said finally, after spending perhaps too long just listening to her breathing, "but the kids asked me to swim the islands today with them."

"Oh,"

"Yeah they bullied me into it…Facing fears, going to see the sting rays on Makapu…I figured you could use a break from me anyway."

"Something like that."

"Right."

Asami could feel her pulling away again, but something desperate in her wanted to keep hearing her voice.

"I saw Iroh,"

"Oh,"

"We're still broken up K,"

"You and him right?"

"Yeah,"

There was a pause, and Asami let Korra debate the anxieties plaguing her.

"Good,"

Asami felt her own lips twitch into a smile at that.

"I'll see you tonight? At the hotel?"

"Sure." Asami bit her lip, and looked out the window at the sun rising on the sea, "It's a date."

She heard Korra drop the phone.

"Sorry."

God I love you. She thought better of it to say it out loud.

Sleep came easier after she hung up, she still felt the devastation nagging in her brain. Inexplicably Korra's voice made it all better.

"Guys," Haru yelled excitedly, "Guys!" running into the staff room.

Jet flinched at the intrusion, annoyed to have been dragged out of his usual languor.

"What? Dude?"

Out of breath, Haru grabbed the whiteboard pen and underlined his ballot, Eat, Pray, Love.

"She's alone in the room," he exclaimed happily, "Crying!"

"Dude," Jet snorted, Joo Dee added.

"You're sick!"

Haru gawped at them before gesturing at the whiteboard with which they bet harshly and methodically on heartless guests.

"Where's the proof?" Jet pressed,

"And they're booked for another two weeks," Joo Dee added. "The race isn't finished yet."

"Well the other one is gone, and the husband is face down on the beach out side, and Doug the bell hop told me when I came in for my shift this morning."

"Guys!" Sneers burst in the room, sweating, eyes wide, breath heaving.

"Oh god you didn't sleep with her?" Haru exclaimed, inspecting the board for the odds on Sneers sleeping with a newly single guest and if it would cost him money.

"What?" Sneers exclaimed, "Who? No!"

"Are you okay hun?" Joo Dee finally noted the fear in her eyes.

"The sky is red." She said simply.

Jet stood up, whole body tense.

"Black and red," Sneers clarified. "Mt. Makapu is on fire"

"Get everybody off the island." Jet commanded, breaking glass on an alarm that hadn't been used in a century. The engraving had faded, but the writing was still clear and terrifying - IN CASE OF ERUPTION.


	19. Chapter 19

"_Oooh!" _Korra hung up the phone to a cacophony calling from the children who'd been eavesdropping.

"That's it I'm not going," she folded her arms.

The party left the beach in relative shambles, but the shack which Korra had hidden in, and spent the night sculpting her father's unfinished surfboard, remained untouched. She finished around midnight, and sat back to enjoy the peace of a well earned empty mind. It was just enough to sleep on the couch that still smelled like the woman that left her.

At the break of dawn the trio of children had slammed a trifecta of aggravating knocks until she had no choice but to open the door and agree to terms. A swimming tour of the island, in return for no more yelling at her.

"So does this mean you and Asami aren't fighting anymore?" Ikki asked nosily.

"I hope not I can't believe I watched Asami kung fu your butt!"

"Shut up Meelo! I meant are Korra and Asami back in _looove_?"

"_We're not_\- okay no more of those questions for the rest of the day capeesh?"

The girl huffed indignantly and crossed her arms, and Meelo pulled a jealous face that Korra wasn't sure how to respond to.

"Well what do we talk about?" Ikki balked, frustrated.

Korra rolled her eyes, held her nose and pretended to dive and swim from the room. Jinora was studying a map on the kitchen table of the archipelago.

"I say we start here, from the north side of the island, and swim south in a curve until we hit Makapu,"

"Why do we want to go to death mountain anyway?" Korra muttered packing bottles and snacks into her swim pack.

"Scaredy Korra!" Meelo jibed.

"Kya says the manta rays are there."

"They're _ok_," Korra shrugged, "Nothing to shout about."

"You saw them already?" Jinora looked at Korra, and the other two rounded.

"With Asami?" Ikki added.

"In the _Cave of the Two Lovers?" _Meelo shrieked. The three girls looked shocked at him. Korra felt her whole body heat up, and was praying her tan skin didn't give away her blush.

"We…_I don't have to answer to three twelve year olds, are we swimming or not?"_

They answered in unison.

"_Yes_!"

"I'm thirteen!"

"Collectively we're 35,"

"_Come_ on then." she beckoned them out, and something in the sound of them clambering out for her made her smile.

Korra plucked her freshly made board from the sand as she walked.

"_Meelo, Ikki Jinora_, do not go any further!" From deck chairs outside the house Pema beckoned her children, greasing her hands with sunscreen, "You're not going to be out on the water all day without sunblock"

Meelo and Ikki groaned but Jinora knew better than to argue.

"You too Korra,"

"Uh thanks Pema, but I think melanin has got me covered."

"Not necessarily," Pema shot back slapping white cream over Meelo's arm, he was pulling away, or she was yanking him into place, either way it looked uncomfortable, "Melanin doesn't protect from UV, and due to your darker skin it might be harder for doctors to spot skin cancer."

When Pema was finished with her son she looked up at Korra who'd just had her whole world put into question. The older woman threw her a bottle from her stash. Her husband, grumpily sleeping and fair skin turning rosy bit by bit on the deck chair beside her.

"Thanks,"

"You sure you're going to be alright with them? On land they're quite a handful"

"I'm hoping they could put all that excess energy into the sea,"

"And you guys are good with the distance?" Pema double checked, worried parent oozing out as she jammed floaties on Meelo's arms, and Ikki wriggled out of her own.

"We're bringing Korra's new board." Jinora unstuck it from the sand and brandished it. The board Korra's father had began some years back, Korra had spent the night finishing, and finished it with a burning detail of an intricate Maori mermaid, complete with hibiscus flowers, long flowing black hair and encompassing lidded eyes. It wasn't til after she showed it to someone did she think maybe it gave too much away. "So Meelo can rest on it the whole way."

"Korra used to do this with _her_ dad at my age." Meelo defended.

"Not all the islands though," Ikki pointed out.

"Today's the day we go to the mountain," Korra huffed, lifting Meelo over her shoulder, "and today is the day it'll probably erupt," she chagrinned.

"Best take that cream with you in case it does," Pema surmised watching her children follow Korra into the sea.

Korra tied the board to her ankle and let it float beside them as they set off. The first island they reached, and Korra sat wet on the sand watching the trio play with the pigs paddling happily in the shallows. She mused how she was destined to end up in a place she had already been, this time alone, without Asami. It couldn't help but pale in comparison.

A pang of regret tore her mood down as she watched the children give chase to unbothered and surprisingly quick little swines.

"Piiiig!" Meelo yelped and made yet another running leap to catch one, which rolled nonchalantly from his grasp.

Korra smiled, and wished Asami could be here to see this.

"Come on guys, on to the next one, or we won't make it back for dinner."

"Wait!" Meelo snapped a picture of her from a camera he'd been swimming with around his neck. "Can you get a picture of me with him?"

Korra blinked before accepting the camera, when Meelo leapt this time her landed in a pile of squeal, struggles and bubbles, Korra caught it, laughing and even managed to catch some under the water.

"Now can we go?" She giggled, and Meelo stood puffing out his chest like a proud hunter as his capture swum away disgruntled and disturbed.

Korra almost forgot her dread the closer to Makapu she came. The kids were true to their word and didn't pester her about her love life, but something inside wanted to talk about Asami, to talk about it with people she cared about, to _share _her and the happiness she gave her. She finally could give voice to something she'd locked away for years, it wasn't exactly something she was used to.

Talking about it made it real, and after a lifetime of only _pretending, _she was starting to like reality for a change.

When they made it to the island Korra looked up at the mouth of the mountain, and instantly wanted to hear Asami's voice telling her it would be okay. Instead as Ikki and Meelo rushed ahead, Jinora hung back.

"You and Asami came here already?"

"We did,"

"On a couples hike?"

"In the place of a couple, what are you getting at?" Korra knew of course, and marvelled silently at the bashful smile she felt pulling on her lips.

"She kissed you,"

"Whatever happened to no more questions?" Korra sighed, sticking the board in the sand on the shore before following the kids up ahead.

"It's not a question it's a statement." Jinora shrugged.

"You're getting too smart for your own good."

"We saw you, from the cliff."

"It wasn't exactly subtle." Korra mused unable to stifle a grin, "it's new."

"But also not new," Jinora side eyed her as they walked.

"Too smart," Korra laughed.

"You guys are cute," Jinora told her and Korra felt the warmth of it bleed over her chest. The affirmation was wholly unexpected, and something she never knew she'd ever need.

Korra noted the little things occurring around them, she couldn't help it, she began logging the birds above and the gentle breeze cooling her just then. She handed out the snacks and waters to her little flock of weirdos and watched as Meelo practiced his best gollum impression on all fours and creeping up the sheer walls until she had to catch him after he lost his grip. He did it so much she was starting to wonder if he was practicing a trust experiment on her.

They were halfway up the mountain, and Korra recognised the short shrubs and bushes she'd wanted to hide in days before. The memory of coming clean was so strong, and Asami begging her to tell her the truth. The march to the cave, the first kiss in the water, and all that followed.

Korra assessed the memories from a place of objectivity, studying Asami as she kissed her back, held her close and dived in, eyes wide shut, hand held tight, head first.

The moment was interrupted by Meelo postulating on a micro-cliff above them.

"_The Boulder_ is the master of this rock!" he yelled.

"Really is he up there?" Jinora jibed.

"Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!" he screamed stamping his feet, _stomp, stomp, stomp - BOOM!_

The ground beneath their feet shook, and Meelo toppled from his perch into Korra's arms

Korra looked up at the mouth of the mountain, and it was as though her nightmare had opened the sky and tore vengeful smoke and hell fire down on top of them.

"_Korra_?" She could hardly hear save for the blood pumping in her ears, she couldn't tell which child had spoken to her.

"Get down," she managed, "get off the cliff now!"

She grabbed Ikki by her arm, and kept Meelo in her grip, and Jinora in front they sprinted down the mountain path.

The magma ran like a river, levelling its own track and pouring in front of them. Everything in its path, bushes, small trees, lizards, even rocks went up in puffs of smoke, obliterated in seconds.

"_Jinora_!"

"I'm okay!" she hopped back.

"Up,"

"What?"

"Trust me, _back up,_" Korra pushed Ikki back up and reached for Jinora's hand. Already she could feel the ash on her skin, and the ground burning beneath her bare feet. Her legs were shaking but she kept them going, kept an iron grip on Meelo shivering against her.

"Down there," she guided Ikki on the thin path hugging the cliff, put Meelo on next back and pushed Jinora after. It was then the unthinkable happened, immense pressure sent a funnel of rock, fire and magma shooting from the rock face, smacking into Korra's shoulder.

She heard screams above her, and found her grip on the steep face of the mountain.

"Korra!"

"_Follow that path!" _she commanded, pain burning through her left side as she tried to get numb feet to push her higher. Every reach came with great difficulty, and her hands were slick with ash, sweat and blood as she climbed. She couldn't understand how one eye was seeing more red than the other, but nothing mattered more than getting back to the kids.

She found them in the arch way, trembling with wide eyes and gripping each other.

"Get inside," She urged.

"Korra your head!"

"You want us to go _inside_ the volcano?" Meelo shrieked.

"_Trust me_," she pushed, her hands leaving black marks on their skin as she guided.

Already dark with smoke yet somehow cool, the stairs carved into the mountain path soothed her feet. Her heart was racing, and it felt like all the blood she had was swarming to the heat on her left side. Still she limped, and the darkness gave way to glowing blue algae. Below them a foray of frantic Manta rays, panicking and swooping for an escape as magma seeped into their keep.

"Stay here." she told them, lowering herself into the water, only to slip and stumble on the first step.

"Korra we can't let you-" Jinora began, but Korra snapped.

"_Look after your sibling_s," she dipped into the water and eerily felt as though her body was sweating as the lagoon began to boil. The algae mopped into her hair and clothes, thick and unrelenting, but she was desperate not to submerge her head for fear of never returning. Her hand hit rope and she took three deep long breaths before struggling to yank herself up the side of the boat.

She would have liked to return to this place under different circumstances, to continue where she and Asami had left off, and maybe, just maybe say all those things that had been left unsaid. Instead she ripped at the hammock where they lay once, and prayed for an oar or a sail or _something._

_An Engine._

Someone is looking down on me. She yanked the cord, it puttered but failed.

"Come on," she muttered.

"You can do it Korra!" Ikki yelled, hopeful and frantic in the same moment.

_Please God, _she thought as she yanked and the engine gave nothing, _if you let me live I will never second guess anything good in my life again, not my friends, not my parents, and definitely not Asami._

With the third and final yank the engine roared to life, she laughed but stopped when immeasurable pain split her sides. She guided the boat to the kids on the shore, counting them desperately, one, two, three, as she pulled them on.

"Hold this," she gave the rudder to Jinora, and helped her tug it so the boat aimed for the opening in the mountain side. The kids hooted with glee when they emerged, but Korra curled up against the back of the boat next to her, keeping her bleeding hidden as best she could. "Go straight," she croaked "keep going until you're out of smoke,"

"What about land?" Jinora asked, but Korra had already slipped away.

Asami dreamed of an evening, meeting Korra waiting for her on the beach, bright blue bikini and chiffon sarong. A maroon beach hat lowered over her own face until the crucible moment; the heiress' hand on her shoulder, lips meeting hers, parting and watching Korra's lipstick smudged lips smile easy and free.

Asami wanted to live in this; this moment entirely of her imaginings. To feel the sand, numb against her feet, to smell the sea. She couldn't place how wrong that scent was at first, what should have been salt and sunshine was instead, sulphur.

She awoke coughing, eyes open to what should have been day, but instead smog and grey darkened the window, and slipped in through the cracks of it. A headache bloomed in her skull as she felt the alarms blades rake through.

Adrenaline filled her body, head to toe, when she stood. She knew for a fact it was something outside on fire, and that the smoke had formed a thick fog outside meant it was probably unsafe to leave. Her first thought was of Korra, she had to know where she was, and ripped up the phone to dial Kya's.

The phone was answered after half a ring, on the other end a panicked Kya pleaded.

"Korra is that you?"

"Asami." answered, before her throat closed.

"I'm guessing they're not with you." Kya's voice had a twinge of hopelessness, and Asami's took on that tone as well.

"No,"

"They left hours ago, they could be anywhere,"

"What's happening?" she hazarded to ask, dreading the truth that was slowly dawning on her.

"The volcano, honey you have to come to this side of the island, maybe you'll catch them along the way."

"They were _going_ to the volcano."

"Asami-"

"I'm not leaving without her." it slipped out, she was well aware how deranged it made her sound.

"This is serious Asami, I know it's hard, but we have to let the professionals do the rescue work. There's nothing you can do."

"I can't do nothing," Asami countered, voice breaking, and listening intently to Kya's ragged breathing for a response. She hung up and suddenly she was aware of a banging on her bedroom door.

"Miss Sato? _Miss Sato!_ We're evacuating!"

She yanked it open, a hotel clerk holding a rag over his mouth and nose beckoned her out.

"Have you seen a tall man, black hair, probably wasted, he was in the bar last night?"

The boy looked at her, eyes wide and confused, but he nodded.

"Do you know where he is now?"

Eye brow cocked, he offered her a hand, and she took it without question. As they marched other members of staff were banging on doors, and in some cases kicking them down. Guest after guest was being led in one direction, and Asami and the stranger, another.

They left through a beach side exit, and Iroh was sleeping on the sand, unencumbered by worldly troubles.

She got down on her knees and shook him. He didn't stir until she was literally hitting him in the back.

"Iroh!"

"'_Sami_?"

"What the _hell_ are you doing?"

"You decided to change your mind?" he had the gall to look relieved, but that look faded when she took his face in her hands and yanked it to look at the volcano behind them, belching flame and magma at an alarming rate.

He stood, a semblance of military training marring his features as he tensed his muscles and prepared for, well, anything else.

"We need to get out of here." Without thinking he lifted her into his arms and was prepared to fireman's carry her for the next ten miles, but she started hitting his chest and struggling.

"_Korra's still out there!_" she screamed at him, he gawped at her, speechless, but she could tell he could muster enough of a brain cell to even care. A flash of something vindictive crossed his face, and Asami could read his thoughts, _so what? She deserves it_. Before she knew it she was slapping him across the face. He stumbled holding his jaw.

"_She has three kids with her,_" she snapped at him, "in case you needed a better reason."

Iroh looked at the staff member, who for some reason was totally engrossed in the conversation and had temporarily forgotten his evacuator duties.

"You gotta phone?"

Sun, sand and perfect blue skies was the perfect spot for a Marine base apparently, Iroh made a call and within minutes a chopper was headed their way. It landed on the beach, and was a spectacular sight in what had become a vacant wasteland of ash and smoke.

"I'll meet you back on the North side in 0200 hours,"

"I'm coming with you."

"You're trained to operate in flight missions?" Iroh mocked.

"I'm trained to have eyes and look out of a window. I'm coming, _end of._"

"_Asami_," he gripped her arm to stop her passing. She twisted his hand with a viper like strength and venom, and he released.

"_There's no time for this_," she snarled as he bodily blocked her path.

"Asami I can't let you on," both hands now, on either side of her shaking form.

"Iroh _please_… let me do this and I…I'll _forgive_ you." his steely gaze softened, and he watched her, suddenly looking small and just as scared. His thumbs stroked her arms for the last time, and then, he let her go.

Asami thanked him quietly before stepping on the copter, strapping herself in a seat and pulling on a headset.

She couldn't revel in the fact they were racing through the sky, in a machine that rivalled many of her own inventions in speed, grace and deadly precision. Even in the spinning blades were no match for Makapu's relentless smoke and thunderous booms as it purged a century's worth of molten core from its guts.

As the sun went down the search became even bleaker. They circled the whole of Ember Island, and as the people on the ground crowded from the smaller archipelagos to the north side, no four distinguishable figures emerged for the masses. They hadn't returned either, Asami had called Kya's every hour, on the hour.

They skimmed the reaches of the mountain, Asami unbuckled herself to peer over the edge of the cabin floor to get a better look. A memory struck her, Korra after she'd kissed her, a goddess enveloped in bioluminescent blue, triggered by a score of the algae painted atop the sea in a path leading from Makapu out to open sea.

"There!" she pointed, and ran to the pilot and instructed, "_Follow that,_"

In the fading light the trail grew brighter, Asami even swore she saw the manta rays pirouetting around it, until whatever was left on the boat was washed away, and petered out a mile or so away.

"Sir?" The pilot addressed Iroh, who looked back at Asami. His jaw was set with determination, and a tempest of emotion boiling in his chest. He knew what he was doing, he knew exactly what it would cost to keep following this trail on way or the other. There was a light in the heiress eyes that still held out hope for something better, and even if it only worked out for her, he couldn't help but want it too.

"Keep going." he instructed.

They flew for what seemed like hours, but truly only minutes had gone past.

"Sir the fuel."

"How long?"

"Ten minutes till no return."

Asami pretended she didn't hear that, she kneeled by the cabins edge and waited. Holding her breath. Praying for anything below to scream at her like the trail of algae did.

Seven minutes.

Time flowed like water, the blades above ticking it away as it slipped past.

Five minutes.

They could see the moon now, wide and open, a lidless eye watching them fail.

Two minutes.

Asami could feel her heart pumping loudly in her chest, it moved her physically, and she felt like any moment and errant beat would send her careening into the abyss below.

One.

The heiress closed her eyes, and tried to remember what Korra's shy, unveiled smile looked like.

"_Holy shit._"

She snapped them open, all she could hear was the pilot yelling co-ordinates to the command tower, requesting medical assistance, without it she wouldn't have believed what she saw.

A single orange flare cutting through the navy blue sky. Three children on a boat with their faces turned up at it.

The copter lowered, and their hair whipped madly in the wind but faces stayed the same stony, pensive and cheeks streaked with tears long passed. Asami took Meelo in her arms when Iroh lifted him up to the ladder, to her, then Ikki, finally Jinora.

"Are you kids okay?"

They looked at her but didn't speak, Jinora managed a nod, and lips twisted in an attempt to give a reassuring smile, only to grimace.

Iroh crouched over the final passenger, Asami couldn't see past him as he checked her pulse. She waited in agony, as he lifted her limp, unable to grip, or notice if he was pressing into her wounds.

"_Get a medpack_." he yelled up as he climbed the rope ladder, balancing Korra over his back, gripping her hands with one of his own. Asami pulled a kit with a cross from the wall and ripped it open. She'd never done anything like this before, all of this was new to her.

"We tried to fix her," Asami heard Ikki's voice, small and quiet and ashamed, "she kept bleeding through the bandages we…we," her lower lip jutted out and trembled as she struggled with all that huge wad of grief in such a tiny body. Asami hugged her quiet, cooing gently as she watched Iroh pull her over the side and onto the floor of the cabin.

Iroh had her flat on her back.

"She's still bleeding," Jinora croaked.

"That means her heart is still beating." Iroh told her matter of factly, undoing the children's work and inspecting the damage to her left side, head and shoulder and ribs.

Asami knelt at her head, while the kids crowded her right side.

"Lift her head up," Iroh told Asami, "on your lap."

Asami did as she was told.

She watched the man she was going to marry, pull out needle and thread and begin to suture the woman she loved.

Something about needle going into her skin made Korra flinch. Her eyes flew wide open and her hand gripped Iroh's wrist. Asami felt her anxiety fall out of her in a big wet wad, and instantly began to run her fingers soothingly through the hair not caked in blood.

"_Korra, Korra, Korra,_" she said in a whisper as it was all she was able to manage. Korra looked up at her, confused and exhausted, but whatever fear she had seemed to fade as she gazed into Asami's emerald eyes.

She was covered in blood, smoke, ash, and sweat. She most certainly was in an insurmountable amount of pain, and couldn't possibly stay conscious for long. God only knows what possessed her to _smile _up at her like that_._

Her own eyes hazy and soft, and managed to speak the words.

"Hey you."

Before letting the black take her again, head cradled in the hands of the woman she loved.


	20. Chapter 20

There was a steady thwip of the chopper blades above them, beating heavy against the smoky winds as they soared away from the island, onto the next, where the hospital was.

Asami couldn't hear beyond this, in truth she wasn't paying attention to any of it, when Iroh was done patching Korra she kept her back and shoulders cushioned on her thighs. She traced her thumb from her temple, her cheek, to her lips, there she stopped, and that's when she noticed those blue eyes, open slightly.

For a second she thought Korra was looking at her like she was a stranger, and the worry throttled her insides, but those feelings dissipated when Korra took her hand with her own and pressed her cheek fully into her palm.

Asami didn't know she was crying until her own tear landed on Korra's cheek, and she swiped it, Korra's voice was too hoarse to speak but her lips started to move.

I'm okay, they said. but Asami spied dried blood still marring her temple, the bruised circles under her eyes, and the slow, pained way she blinked up at her. Asami fell forward and kissed her forehead, not missing the way Korra's fingers tangled weakly in the locks she could reach.

The next words caught in her throat, trying to think of something to say to make either of them feel better. Don't do that to me ever again, seemed superfluous, What were you thinking? Pointless; when Asami knew the answer was simply; being Korra.

She was a hero through and through, and to a flaw. Asami made a mental note to convince her to be villainous every once in a while. She'd settle for selfish in times like these.

"I love you," Asami told her, "I'm in love with you," she clarified in a voice she intended clear and sober, but she felt her eyebrows arch inward, her throat constricted with the thought of just how much she'd wanted to say it, as though all the ones she'd kept in came out all at once. "I love you Korra,"

Jinora, Meelo and Ikki were alive thanks to her, the gravity of that wasn't lost on the heiress. The trio were huddled in blankets in the clipped into the seats of the chopper, Iroh checking reflexes and letting them toy with medical supplies to calm them. Jinora couldn't take her eyes off Korra, namely her chest and stomach, visual assurances that the older woman was still alive.

She also watched the precious way the heiress held her, something in that gave Jinora hope, even though she couldn't hear what she was saying. That mystery was reserved for Korra, and Korra alone.

Her eyes could only widen in response, perhaps it was the loss of blood or the fact that she felt like she was literally floating. She tried to move her lips again, she was sure she at least formed the words, you and too, exclusively and in that order, but with everything fading but Asami she couldn't be so sure. She focused on her fingers on her skin, neither warm nor cool they were her anchors into this world. Korra tried to move her own fingers again, only she wasn't sure where she left them.

"I was so scared I wouldn't see you again, but you're okay, you're going to get through this…"

Asami was crying and stroking her head, and venting her anxieties now that she finally felt a semblance of safety. Korra felt none of it, as her vision fell inch by inch, further and further away from reality.

Iroh couldn't help but watch the exchange, he missed words, and couldn't see past Asami's curtain of hair, but he'd never heard her voice break that way. He'd never seen her hands shake before she touched him, or ever hold his face so intensely.

Korra's hand fell when she lost consciousness this time, luckily it was on the landing part of the trip. Iroh crouched beside them and he and Asami guided her onto a stretcher. The paramedics snatched her away so quickly Asami barely had time to say goodbye. She felt skinny arms reach around her hips. She opened her arms and three heads pressed against her in varying levels.

Asami couldn't say anything to comfort them, she felt a rift tear into her the minute Korra's skin left hers, it was infantile and stupid but she couldn't stop crying.

"She'll be okay Asami," Jinora squeezed her, "Korra's tough."

"Come on," Asami sucked in a breath and levelled her head, "Let's get you guys checked out."

She took small hands, and followed the doctors, but more had already come up to greet them.

She walked with them to the wards and stood by as the children were treated for smoke inhalation, breathalysing and sucking oxygen through nose tubes until their eyes rolled back into their little exhausted heads. Asami sat vigil twisting her fingers, until Iroh returned, their parents in tow.

Pema looked mortified and both stepped in doted on their children. The mother turned to Asami and took her hands.

"I don't know how to thank you enough."

Asami turned red as she hugged her, mostly because she was at capacity, and her emotions rushed north with no where left to go.

"I, it was Iroh and the military, really,"

"He told us how you wouldn't give up and the algae trail, you were our angel."

Asami's words caught in her throat, partially because she didn't know what else to say, mostly because she couldn't process anything without seeing that Korra was okay. For the moment she was gone from her, and no doctors had thought to tell her why.

"How's Korra?"

"I don't know I didn't want to leave the kids."

"Go!" Pema urged, squeezing her arms and letting her turn from the ward. The heiress nodded and made for the door. Just out of it a strong hand grasped her wrist.

"Asami," Iroh stopped her.

"Iroh," she bore down on her annoyance when she remembered with a warm aching chest what he did for her. "Thank you, they wouldn't have made it without you."

"You really think so?" he smiled quickly and modestly, "They seem like smart kids, I'm sure they would have figured something out."

Asami's eyes dropped as she remembered all too vividly the pool of blood they found Korra in.

"I have to go."

"Wait,"

She paused once, but swore to herself this would be the last time.

"You forgive me?"

She watched his face then, open, smeared with soot like theirs all were, still hopeful that doing the right thing meant undoing the wrong. As he stood there, mind flooded with the memories of the way his fiancee held Korra, spoke to her and kissed her on the chopper, certain things clicked into place.

"I forgive you, I thank you, but that's all there is to it." she watched him carefully as she said it, arms folded, body tense.

"Asami, you're my closest friend."

"What?"

He struggled with his response, jaw flapping a little as he struggled with his emotions and his adrenaline.

"I knew she was yours but, you were mine. I shared everything I could with you."

"Everything that wasn't classified." Asami snipped back, it was a knee jerk reaction.

"Please." She softened when she saw a tear score the ash on his cheek. "I'll help you pack, I'll seal the boxes, just, don't cut me out of your life. You're still important in mine. I still want you to love me."

"I don't think-"

"Forgiveness means moving forward - together."

Asami pursed her lips and watched this once-goliath, shrink before her.

"I'll think about it."

Asami didn't look at him long enough to let the guilt set in, she found a nurse and got her attention nearby, leaving Iroh dumbfounded where he stood.

"The woman who came in by chopper, with the burns on her side and shoulder and head wound where is she?"

"Are you family?"

Asami knew the caveat, and understood if she said the wrong thing here the medical staff would shut her out. She said it quickly, without pause and with utter conviction. Still it felt loaded on her lips, as though she were jinxing everything by speaking the words aloud, especially in the light of recent events. Well, as recent as a week ago.

"I'm her wife." she lied, for a good cause. It wasn't until moments later she realised Iroh must've heard.

The lie worked, and the nurse smiled at her and led her to the intensive care unit where Korra was.

The curtain around Korra's bed had been pulled, but the nurse pushed through and Asami was pushed in as a nurse was wringing a sponge with Korra's blood on it.

"This the partner?" said the nurse to her colleague, and Asami nodded. "We usually give the spouse an option to administer sponge baths…"

Asami stuck out her hand without waiting for the second option. Korra was unconscious on the bed, and letting another person touch her just felt wrong. This is insane your jealous of medical staff now?

She switched places with the nurse, running the sponge over her temple and cheek gently. She didn't like the way her face pulled when she did this, and so ran her thumb over her cheek as she asked.

"No one's told me anything about her condition," she tried to yank her emotions back into their former cages, but right then it was impossible and her eyes had an insidious habit of leaking as of late.

The nurse rattled off a list of medical terms in quick succession. Asami barely registered as she concentrated on watching Korra just breathe.

"We're treating her for smoke inhalation and third degree burns on her ribs and shoulder, avulsion wounds on her ribs, and puncture on her shoulder. She has substantial bruising and has lost about two pints of blood, we've got her on antibiotics, morphine and O pos. Her wounds have been cleaned in surgery but there's still a lot of ash that needs rid. She'll be coming around soon, but really she just needs rest. Will you be okay to work around this?"

She gestured to the bandages, now finally no longer soaked in blood and dirt, but delicate underneath none the less.

Asami nodded weakly.

"When can I take her home?" she asked, wondering herself where home for her might be.

"It depends on how she does." the nurse replied cooly, and the heiress nodded.

She was wiping her hands now, black soot and blood covered her fingers, as well as a glittering of algae. Asami laughed, a desperate mad panicked laugh, through the tears and said.

"I think I'll need more water soon."

The nurse only nodded and left to retrieve some. Asami wrung out the cloth she was using and changed for another, following a patch of ash that marred her jaw and neck, she leaned over the bed to get it.

"Are you coming on to me?" the voice was small and hoarse, but she could hear the smile in it. Asami was over her face, her lips an inch or so from her own, yet she continued with her ministrations unperturbed.

"Trust me, if I was, you'd know."

"Everything hurts," Korra told her, before finding the morphine button and clicking another 10cc's of bliss into her veins, "I told you so." she murmured sinking further into the bed as Asami perched on the edge and started untangling her gown with shaking fingers.

"That's what you get for going up death mountain without me,"

Korra let out a laugh and then a wheeze as it pained her.

"You should sleep." Asami told her, turning so she could wipe away the block of ash that stopped shy of where Korra's shorts had been.

"And miss this?" the ice sculptor whispered, excitement lacing her weak voice. Asami felt her own lips twitch into a smile despite herself. She went on to wipe away the sweat and blackness on her feet and legs, limb by limb cleaning and caring for her in silence. It wasn't especially romantic, but it represented something much deeper between them, Asami was sure she'd tapped into this feeling before, but in this context it was entirely encompassing. Finally Korra spoke, when she was scrubbing her palm free of the dirt in the grazes.

"I feel loved by you."

Asami looked up at her, her eyes were closed, but her face loose and calm. It's probably the drugs, Asami mused.

She was no longer tensing when she touched her, and felt safe enough to be touched and drift on the verge of sleep. It was then Asami stepped to the head of the bed and leaned over, kissing Korra's lips tenderly, softly, with only the intention of giving comfort as well as taking some for herself. It was as though her lips slid into place, a perfect fit that was gentle and secure. She noted the way Korra's oxygen tube jutted into the space between her top lip and nose, but tried not to let it bother her.

"It's about time." she told her matter of factly. "Go to sleep."

"Whatever you say Mrs Missus." she mumbled, more than a little blissed out.

Asami watched her go, stroking her hair as she settled deeper into the bed and drifted off.

Asami wished to collect herself, but it was too late she'd already let more tears seep. She sniffled and swiped them away, before peeling back a corner of Korra's gown to reveal the ugly yellowing bruises peeking out of her bandages here and there. The air left her lungs as though she had been socked in them.

The nurse came back then, replacing water and bringing new cloths and noted how shaken the heiress was.

"The worst of it is over," she assured, "How long have you been married?"

Asami's heart began to skip in anticipation at the lies she was just about to spin, eyes down, wiping at Korra's right shoulder now, careful not to veer too far left she replied.

"This was our honeymoon." she responded, deciding it was easier to keep it all close to the truth as possible.

"You've gotten through this," the nurse assured, eyes soft, "the rest should be easy,"

Asami only pursed her lips.

"You don't think it's a bad omen," she couldn't help but let the bad though eek out through her lips, and hated herself for even thinking it, but as she looked down at Korra's bruised and wounded body she couldn't help but think of how she'd made Korra come here.

"Bad would have been if you and your helicopter friend hadn't been there. Four casualties, four survivors," the nurse shrugged, "We're not always so lucky."

Her logic was difficult to argue with, given what her days must've been like here, but still it didn't assuage the blame Asami put on herself. So she set her mind to the task of washing Korra's body, in apology, in regret, in a need for her to simply be okay. She'd done this before under different circumstances, in a hotel room not far from here, yet felt a million miles away. At a time when they showered together for the first time, explorative and triumphant as they shared every piece of each other with affection and adoring touches.

When finished, she combed her fingers through Korra's still wet hair and noted how eyes closed, skin glistening she looked re-born in it. Now all that was left was to wait for her to come around again.

Asami sat on the chair beside the elevated bed and waited until her head hung forward as her own exhaustion began to take over, and she balanced her forehead on the sponge of the mattress at face height. On the cusp of sleep but too anxious to let it take her fully. Some hours later Korra woke, sober, in pain, and out of sorts. Her gasping roused the heiress, and as she looked up at her, it was clear the realisation of where Korra was, or what had happened, hadn't quite hit her yet.

"'Sami?" in the darkness her voice croaked, and she pulled a face that was surprised by how alien it sounded.

"I'm here." The heiress stood and took her hand, Korra reached over with her left, wincing and hooked her fingers over Asami's wrist, to be sure to keep her there.

"The kids,"

"Are fine, they're with their parents." Asami smiled at her with watery eyes, fingers of free hand stroking her hair over her temple, "They're being treated for smoke inhalation, but they're okay, thanks to you,"

Korra studied the words intently and finally nodded when she felt like she understood them. A lot of overwhelming things were happening, and all she had in her to do was cling to Asami.

Suddenly she began to shuffle, and Asami's heart skipped and body bubbled with anxiety as she struggled. She lifted the blanket and held onto the heiress' hand, not tugging, just waiting.

"There's other beds Korra,"

"That's never stopped us before,"

Asami's heart skipped a beat. So much of her former life she had fallen into, done as she had been expected to, the right education, the right career, the right husband, and she'd never really cared for any of it. Korra however; she'd chosen. She'd elected to share a bed when they had the option of two. She'd decided to kiss her, the minute she saw who she was.

Korra had given her time, and a little too much space for her liking, but Asami had made her choice, entirely on her own. She loved her.

Asami gingerly arranged herself alongside Korra, careful not to touch until she took her hands and placed them in safe spaces. Korra even tugged her close until her cheek rested on the unburnt shoulder. Together they settled, and Korra, eyes closed, started to feel a certain familiarity with Asami's with body sleepily twisting into her.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" Asami whispered, even though they were relatively alone in the ward, they kept to nighttime voices out of instinct.

"How can I forget my worst nightmare come true?"

"The chopper? The surgery?"

"Those are a blur." Korra whispered, rubbing her tired eyes.

The heiress' heart fell through her this time, she's forgotten I said I love you.

"Hey I'm clean." Korra noted, "I don't even feel sea water on my skin. Did they wash me?"

"I-uh did." Asami admitted and Korra turned to look at her in surprise.

The heiress felt blood hot in her cheeks, but continued.

"You were awake I thought you knew, and you seemed pretty into it, and we- I'm sorry I didn't mean to cross a line-"

"No- no, Asami, it's okay really I just," Korra's hand found Asami's cheek in the darkness, levelling their eyes as best she could tell, "I'm glad you're the one looking after me…I trust you."

Korra used her hand on her jaw as a guide, and pressed her lips against Asami's cheek in the dark. The heiress relaxed into the hold, keeping it firm her herself by cupping her neck, praying this would jog memories of being cradled in the air.

A nurse came and went in the room, uninterested in the pair as they sprung apart only to have Korra wheezing when she was gone.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to call her back?"

"Yeah I'm sorry it's just, so instinctive to hide."

"You might want to work on that…" The heiress trailed off, and Korra caught the tension seeping into the air as they lay there.

"What?"

"Remember how you trust me?" Asami began, searching for signs that this was about to go as wrong as it could get, that she'd gone too far and Korra would pay back the time she kicked her out of the bed.

She then decided, given her current physical state, the latter was unlikely.

Asami bit her lip, like a child pondering the consequences of a ripped band aid.

"There was a chance they would only speak to family so I…" Asami trailed off, boldness waning, she'd remembered the last time Korra was in hospital, the staff had kept so much from her, even though Korra had called her first. It had been a mind numbing ten hours until her parents could fly in from the Great White North, talk to doctors in a locked soundproof room and then update her with the fact that Korra would live, only after a long tortuous night of imagining what her funeral would look like. She couldn't go through that again.

"I told them we're married."

"Wh-at?" Korra said it breathlessly, covering her mouth. At first Asami thought she was angry, her gasps harsh and confused, but as she heard her sniff and watched her wipe her eyes, and saw the flash of teeth, she saw something else entirely.

"Oh God I've broken you."

Korra was laughing, and crying quietly as was her way, but her eyes were bright and her hands didn't quite know what to do.

"I didn't want to be kept out again so I told them this was our honeymoon and, that Iroh was a friend-"

She stopped blathering when Korra gripped her elbows at the shirt and pressed her forehead against her clavicle. Asami urgently tangled her fingers in her hair and held her until she could level her breathing.

"Korra what's wrong?" Unbeknownst to Asami, it was just the opposite.

Korra's chest was an echo chamber of emotion, the bitter ploughed over by the sweet reverberating in her ribs.

We're married hit her so hard that even though it was just an idea it changed her.

When Korra saw the smoke of Makapu, the first thing she felt was anger. In the past it had kept her going, and kept her alive, and it may well have helped in her determination to keep those kids from being taken from her. Korra was angry at a universe that hurt her and once crippled her, she was angry at her own inability to to go after what she wanted and felt a certainty she wouldn't survive to see it through now that she was. She was angry it decided to blow up her worst fear on right at the crux of her dreams coming true and she was angry; right up until the moment she lost consciousness on the boat speeding away.

In the moments in-between, her body weakened, and before she'd had a real say in it, had begun to let it go. It was with those few words that Asami had taken the last of her anger out of her, pulling out the poison that blocking chi for years; Korra was left gasping. We're married - The minute Asami had said it those emotions forced their way to the surface like a geyser.

She'd started letting everything go, what was happening around her, all her fears for the future and with all that gone; past memories flooded in, first steps after her accident, lying with Asami on the sand for the first time, sleeping with her hand clasped in her own, eating poi with scuba goggles perched on her head, camping with her high school friends in the rain, and sharing champagne with her best friend as their tent slowly filled with water.

These spontaneous visions gave way to something else, a future she had formerly never let herself imagine, the pair moving boxes and falling over them in a new apartment, a vacation in snow with her parents watching them hold hands from behind, the heiress waiting for her at an altar, and later pressing flowers from her bouquet in a wedding album.

Eventually she peeled away her hands from her face to knot them in a lattice over her chest, the heiress stroking her arms, confused and in awe of a behaviour she had not yet seen from her best friend; weeping and smiling.

She was coming down from it, the surge of adrenaline unhindered by channels usually blocked.

Korra felt new appreciation for the hands holding her, trailing a path of electricity on her skin as her touch stirred her heart in a deeper way. Asami's eyes were a brighter more lustrous green than she had ever seen them, even the most familiar things were new again.

It was then she knew, all that anger, and that the universe had thrown at her, was worth it, to feel hope like this for the first time in her life.

Asami felt her shaking still and her hands grip hers with purpose. Her eyes that were practically glowing and it was then she kissed her, hard and full on. Asami tasted the joy burning on her lips. This was old Korra kissing her now, no holds barred, nothing in her way, I'll take your breath away, and you'd better deal with it.

Asami reciprocated by holding tighter, the idea that she could hurt her small in the back of her mind as each kiss felt like a second chance they'd never get.

"I love you." When Korra pulled back the confession fell out of Asami, who touched her tingling lips with her finger tips just to prove they were still real. She sucked in a breath, and collected herself, "I told you before, but you don't remember so I'm saying it again, I love you, Korra."

"I love you," Korra said back, omitting the 'too' because it wasn't a response, it was a statement that rang true with every part of her being.

When the intensity had faded, which took some time as their bodies had spent the night thrumming with adrenaline, Asami once again lay tucked into Korra's good side. Both flat out exhausted, Opal found them in a deep sprawled out kind of sleep.

She'd spent the first twenty minutes of her visit debating wether or not to wake them from their tangle, but something in the way they held each other, Asami sunken peacefully on top of Korra's arm as though nestled in a wing, her own hand slipped in her gown to feel the heart beat beneath her chest. Checking, even in sleep, that Korra was still ok.

Eventually the bustle of the ward did the waking for her, at least for Asami anyway who woke with the expression of a confused pouty teenager, training her one then working eye on Opal as she stood, baring gifts.

"I got you some clothes," Opal explained, and Asami slammed her eyes shut from the alarming fluorescent lights that now seemed blinding.

"What time is it?"

"Almost eleven." Opal explained, "Most of the ash has passed over the island and there were minimal casualties as most of the lava went in to the sea. They let us go back to the hotel to collect some things." she lifted the armfuls of folded clothes, and placed the blue pile at Korra's feet.

"Thanks," Asami begrudgingly mumbled, taking the red from her assistant.

"Is she?"

"She'll survive," Asami told her, "We were…talking last night… She has third degree burns and avulsions and punctures, she's been given blood and antibiotics…the nurses said the worst is over."

"Did they tell you all that?"

"I…I didn't want them to keep her from me so I told them we were married."

"How-" Opal studied Korra's sleeping features, anticipating the bad reaction she might have had, "How'd she take it?"

Asami didn't take her eyes off of Korra as she responded.

"We said 'I love you', for real this time." Asami should have smiled, but couldn't help but feel like Opal was an omen she couldn't bare to look at.

It was then Korra began to awaken, but rather than open her eyes, engage and be part of the conversation, she lay there feeling Asami move above and beside her and listened to them speak.

"Iroh's still here, outside."

Korra tried not to let her tension show, and it must've worked, because Asami still pressed against her lay her head on her shoulder and breathed her in.

"He still loves me." Asami mused, she turned her head, letting her lips brush the gown warmed by Korra's body. "Even though he did what he did."

"Why do you think he's still hanging around?"

"Because I forgave him." She said turning from Korra, slipping off the bed, Korra felt the distance a thousand fold then.

"Did you really?"

"Yeah." Asami told her simply, "I'll always be in debt to him." she took the clothes from her friend and made for the bathroom. When she was gone, Opal took her place as vigil at Korra's side as she pretended to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

Korra felt more shell shocked waking up the second time, ears ringing as she was buffeted by visions as Asami doted on her, when their skin brushed she saw what she wanted for the future clear as day. When there was space she saw the cross roads the heiress still stood at and the tall handsome shadow at the edge of her vision, that led away from her.

"Honey?" she snapped out of it, and couldn't help the confusion passing her face at the strange nickname Asami had just given her. The heiress' eyes flickered to the nurse reading her chart and back to her. _Play along, _the emeralds said.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Korra felt a smile tug her lips. Asami stopped folding clothes from their bags to rub her arms.

"I'm doing better, _doll-face,_"

_"Don't push it."_ the heiress laughed as Korra's fingers curled into the front of her shirt and pulled her down to catch and kiss her. When Asami pulled away she took comfort in running her fingers through her hair.

"Right love birds, time to learn to change the dressings," they parted with fingers still entangled as the nurse barged in, water and rags and bandages ready to go. She gestured from Asami to the supplies and said, "If you would,"

Korra caught Asami's hand as she reached, and said,

"Wait, _no_,"

"Korra,"

"You don't have to, I can-"

"I do, _remember_, for better or worse."

Korra blinked slowly and studied her, still not loosening her grip as she struggled with her trust.

"You have a _wife_ now, use it or lose it." Asami shrugged, combing her fingers through her hair and watching her eyes close instinctively. "You can watch me anyway, you're so clumsy with this stuff."

"Am not!"

"How many times have you cut your legs shaving?"

"I can't always feel it! Okay?"

"We're doing this." Asami told her matter of factly, lathering her hands with hand sanitising gel. "What's first?" she turned to the nurse, effectively shutting down Korra's protests with a turn of her head.

"Gently peel away the old dressings and wash the wound underneath."

Asami's tough facade wavered in the face of it, but had Korra let go of her hands, and she undid the buttons of her shirt. It was strange undressing her, slow, steady, with care, not frantic and full of pure want and need and without kissing her. In a way she felt more vulnerable, looking into straight into the power of her stoic encompassing gaze rather than between them, where the angry wounds were waiting for her.

They'd been there three days, and Opal had been an exemplar assistant, collecting their clothes from wherever they'd left them on the island. Asami was amazed to find she'd somehow had them dry cleaned.

As she parted the shirt Korra had been wearing to reveal the blue crop top she'd worn to the date with Kuvira an eternity ago. Asami shot her a derisive look, and Korra smiled bashfully.

"It's not too tight on my stitches." she explained.

The heiress eyes softened and she planted her lips on hers quickly, forgetting they had company.

"The procedure won't _remain _sanitary if you keep doing that." the nurse sighed.

"Sorry," the heiress blushed, scooping her hair behind her ears before hooking her thumb beneath the shirt and pushing it off her shoulders.

"One," Korra counted aloud, and Asami's eyes flicked back to her but she continued her work. The mood shifted when she took up the corner of the bandage spanning her shoulder and upper chest.

"These are looking better already," the nurse assured, looking over the angry red surface wounds. Asami smiled at her through pursed lips.

"Two," Korra added, "keep it up,"

"What are you counting?"

"We can't kiss til after right?" Korra asked the nurse who pulled a bemused expression.

Her grip tightened on Asami's shirt as she ran water over the wound, she was putting on her brave face and Asami loved her for it.

"Three," the heiress tacked on.

"Now use the soap gently, we want to disinfect as best we can,"

Asami only nodded now, afraid she'd start to cry if she opened her mouth again. For the next few minutes she did as she was told, moisturising scars and feeling Korra's grip tighten when pain shot through her. She felt a sense of pride running her fingers over the corners of the bandage on her shoulder, and then her ribs, clean and healthy looking.

Korra lay her cheek in the crook Asami's neck after, she let out the breath she had been holding.

"I got you baby," Asami wasn't thinking about the words as she held her, kissing her forehead.

"You're a natural," the nurse told her patting her back and leaving them in silence. When Korra sat up straight she wiped her eyes, and looked entirely defeated until Asami caught her cheek in her palm.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did." Asami told her, "And I will be doing it when we go home, got it?"

"I-" Asami kissed her protest, pulling her shirt back over her shoulders.

"We'll talk about it on the plane…I know before, we had a lot to talk about."

She was referring to the time before the volcano changed everything, or so they thought. Korra remembered viscerally Asami leaving her in that shack, after she had all but driven her out.

The Ice Sculptor nodded but only had the strength to kiss her cheek and share the sorrow they felt then. Balancing foreheads in the quiet as Asami clasped the buttons shut.

There was a brush of curtain that caught the corner of their eye, and a small eye peeking at them from the lip.

"Hey there," Korra whispered.

"Why are you hiding?" Asami offered her hand to Ikki, who still looked a little shell shocked at seeing Korra his way.

The girl paced closer clasping her hands, eyes wide, looking somewhat like a baby pangolin, shy and enamoured. Asami guided her up and sat her on the bed on Korra's left.

"This is the good side," she explained, to which Ikki responded by hugging her immediately. Korra didn't show any signs of pain as the girl buried her face into her.

"_I'm so sorry Korra!_" she finally wailed, and it was like a damn had been broken because Ikki let of a train of thought apology that was as heart-wrenching as it was unintelligible. "We made you go to the volcano and you _knew _it was a bad idea and that this would happen and it did and yo-ma-so-much-blood,"

"Ikki I didn't know - those were _just jokes,_" Korra cradled her, "You guys saved me, _you got help_, you got out. We're all safe,"

Soon footsteps followed, Jinora and Meelo, the three of them were finally in their own clothes and looked to anyone like normal kids.

"How are you guys feeling?" Korra asked. They rushed and Korra flinched.

"One at a time!" Asami put her arms out as if to catch them, and Korra surmised.

"_Hug Asami for me._"

Once again the heiress was encapsulated by little arms, until one by one they traded with holding Korra by her good side. It was a ridiculous show of weirdness, but it struck Asami hard all the same.

"What?" Korra asked cradling Meelo, and watching Asami wipe away tears.

"I think I want kids." she sniffled and Korra's face dropped with shock, "Not now!" Asami assured.

Korra laughed and the kids sniggered nervously with her, she wiped her eyes and reached for the heiress. Gingerly she arranged her arms around her neck and felt the smoosh of three other bodies envelop the _good sides _of Korra.

As soon as visitors were allowed, the dam broke and a wave of pseudo family waded in. Balloons and bears and flowers in tow. Bolin did his best not to crush her, Mako of course was internalising everything, Opal had already whisked their suitcases away ready for the private jet to carry them away as soon as Korra was getting discharged.

Pema and Tenzin thanked Korra for the thousandth time, and after Korra's insistence left the hospital a grateful family, whole, scared, but together.

Korra had to try not to cry for fear or tearing stitches, so Asami let her crush her hand as she sat beside her.

Kya cupped her cheeks and studied her gaze.

"You're walking ok, you have to tell them if you're feeling any pain-"

"The painkillers they gave me are covering me for that," Korra told her, peeling her fingers from her face and lowering her hands. "I'm fine Kya really, I'm just glad the kids are ok,"

"I know you Korra, I know what you're like," Kya was bristling now, unbecoming of someone who had been heretofore known as a bohemian hippy, "You don't have to keep it all in."

Korra shrugged although it pained her, gripping the back of her neck, unable to deal with the emotions being presented to her.

"I'm ok now. Maybe you should sit down you look stressed."

"_That'll be the stress_," Kya snapped, "Four of my people almost died."

"I know," Korra defended "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," in lieu of giving her a hug took her free hand and squeezed it, "Just concentrate on getting better. "

"I will, I'll be better off when I go back home." again she shrugged, looking away from Asami as she added, "I miss my bed."

Logically Asami knew it, but hearing Korra say it effectively meant the honeymoon was over, and in her heart of hearts she'd give anything to go back to that sweet spot before the nightmares started.

"You're heading back to Republic City? So soon?" Kana asked.

"There's hospital's there, I don't think I'll be too good at couples scuba diving again without risk of infection."

"So Asami's-?"

"Of course I'm going back with her," the heiress squeezed her hand and announced loudly, punctuating the point. Korra rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile as Asami leaned forward conspiratorially, to which Kya and Kana dutifully met with eager ears. "I told them _we're married_,"

Kana clapped her hand over her mouth to keep her squeal of glee in, when Kya simply gawped at them.

"_Last time they wouldn't let me near her," _Asami whispered, "I'm just filling in for family, so don't blow our cover."

"The idiocy of that statement aside, _because you are clearly more married than most married couples, _we could not rock that boat." Kya couldn't help but grin at the fools in front of her, having the gall to act bashful and surprised. She took the chart from the end of the bed and studied it, when she was satisfied she added. "Let me know whose apartment you're staying at because my mother and I will be coming to visit."

"Wait what?"

"That seems," Asami struggled to find the word, "extraneous," she paused, "and _odd."_

"Isn't Katara too busy saving the world or something?" Korra asked.

"You just saved her grand babies, she'd be happy to take time out of her schedule to treat you,"

"I can't ask-"

Kya snapped the chart shut and said,

"It's done,"

"You know how to read medical charts?" Kana asked.

"My mother is a doctor and father was a sea-paramedic, of course I can read a medical chart."

"Yet you spent your time travelling the world and slumming it with me, they must've been so disappointed,"

"My mom would've never said that!" Kya exclaimed, "_out loud_." she corrected. Kana smiled at her like she hung the moon, the memories of their _slumming it _days still fresh in her mind.

"Wait what does this mean? What _treatment_?" Asami interrupted their reminiscing.

"My mother has been ran the successful trials for using Tilapia skin to heal burn scars effectively."

"Tilapia as in the fish?" Korra asked incredulous.

The heiress gawped for a minute for before grabbing Kya's cheeks and kissing her forehead.

"You should be doing this," she gesticulated to Korra, swiping tears from her eyes, standing and hugging her tight.

"She's going to put _fish_ on my _burns," _Korra exclaimed.

"You don't want it, we won't come," Kya folded her arms and Asami answered.

_"We want it, she's just being dumb, we want it,"_

"Fish!"

"She'll come around." the heiress winked at her, smile radiating so much hope that Korra might just have believed it herself. Still she couldn't help the gnawing sensation at the back of her mind.

Korra had taken flown in a plane just once before, on the way to Ember Island_._ She would have loved to be able to afford to fly back to her native southern homeland, but the ferry was sufficient enough. It was loud and hot and full of families visiting for the holidays, she supposed Asami had spoiled her with first class, and again now for some reason a private jet.

"I feel like we're about to personally punch a hole in the O-Zone layer." she said reclining back in a chair in the otherwise empty cabin. Despite the two large luxurious airplane seats they were perched in the cabin took the form of an air-hotel room, equipped with large bed, maxi-bar and an audio visual system that can and has made grown men cry.

"Please you think I would let a Future Industries Private Jet that_ I designed _would create a carbon footprint?"

"I forget your inventions are powered by dreams,"

"And slingshots." Korra peered through the curtain just to make sure she was joking. "_Stop," _Asami got off her seat and took her hand, "You're going to be fine."

"Makes a change," Korra smiled, "You comforting me on a plane,"

"I have a debt," Asami leaned up and hovered her lips a breath away from Korra's, "I think we wound up with six kisses in the end right?"

"We had one so,"

"Carry the one, times a three, I'm no good at math so…twelve?"

"You designed this plane-?" Asami kissed her anyway. Her fingers tangled with Korra's on the arms of the chair.

_"If all passengers and crew could settle into their seats and put seatbelts on, the plane is about to depart."_

The captain interrupted, but Asami continued, biting her lip and feeding her fingers into her hair.

"You remember the part where the doctor said _no sex for three weeks, _right?" Korra murmured half heartedly as Asami nibbled her neck just enough to have her eyes fluttering shut.

"I know," Asami whispered into her ear. "That doesn't mean I don't get to make you feel good."

She stood to her full height and Korra couldn't help but look up at her best friend in awe. She sat back against her chair, crossing her legs, biting her smile.

"I can't believe I just said that." the heiress laughed, "I didn't mean it to sound so dirty,"

"it was _filthy_," Korra smiled back, feeling the tug as the plane began to accelerate. It was heart wrenchingly endearing as she watched Asami cover her grin as she giggled.

"I did not see this vacation going this way." she admitted.

"I knew _something_ like this would happen."

"You knew the volcano would go off while you were _on it?"_

"It was only a matter of time before I told you. I thought I'd be making _this_ trip alone." Korra looked out of the window and watched as they were launched off the ground.

"You think I'd leave you after you told me? That we'd argue so much you'd have to storm off v_ia plane_ to get away from me?"

"I didn't know what to think, all I did was imagine the worst, which is easy to do when you're …scared." the last word came out and a part of Korra regretted it, because she knew what Asami would ask next.

"Are you still scared?"

She could dance around it, she could try to protect what they were cultivating bit by bit, but she was too exhausted to keep from being honest.

"Yes,"

Asami studied her for a minute, the way those crystal blues held her, the way she looked as though she was hurriedly attempting to rebuild walls now that they were returning to their old lives. As though everything that happened on Ember Island meant nothing. The heiress had to fight then to remain calm.

"What are you afraid of?" she couldn't help the hurt in her voice, it tasted sour tainting the sweet Korra's lips had left on hers.

"You forgave Iroh. What does that mean?"

"It means nothing, not to us." Asami shot back, chin tilted up ready for battle.

"He's not going to a have a do-over ready at your apartment?" Korra thought she had purged this, but as they soared closer to home, she wondered aloud what kind of home they'd return to, the old and dark, or the entirely new.

"I left him behind on that island Korra, I'm going home with you,"

"So _we're moving in together now?"_

"Of course not, I just-"

"Have to go back to the apartment you shared with him and take apart your old life."

"I mean I didn't exactly get the chance to before I was sort of a mess."

"And then what?"

"And then life goes on! Now something is clearly plaguing you so why don't you go ahead and say it?"

"I can't help it. I feel like this is…too good to be true, that this is _pity_, you fake married me out of pity, and are now going to be what my nurse-maid? What are you getting out of this?"

"You Korra, it's always been you! It's why I took care of you the first time," Asami was standing now, chest heaving, "I know this isn't you talking, I know you love me, and you've gone through just about every crisis under the sun in the space of about a week but I'm telling you_ I'm here for you _and it hurts to have you question that."

_Not to mention I told you I loved you, _she wanted to scream it but it stung too much to even utter the words. Korra had been through a lot, it's what the heiress kept telling herself every time she pulled away.

"And I am telling you," Korra told her softly, and slowly the heiress lowered herself to her knees in front of her "That this can't be one sided," Korra leaned forward and offered her hands, to which Asami took, hesitant. "There's so much you have to do now, and I don't mean me…I can't watch you go from one bad situation to another."

"You're calling yourself a bad situation?"

"I think we can admit I am pretty grotesque right now,"

"_Stop it."_ Asami cupped her jaw, "I won't hear it."

"This is going to be hard, and dare I say it _boring_, I won't have you wasting all your free time with me."

Asami sat back on her heels looking up at her.

"I think we need to do this for real." she surmised.

"What's real to you?"

"We said we'd date. That we'd wait before sex, well now we have a literal ban."

"I'm not sure I'm in a fit state to go _bowling _with you right now."

"We can have dinner at your place like normal people. I'll come by to change your dressings every day _like I promised, and if you want me to go, I'll go,_ or we can eat and watch TV and it'll be just like we always were except I get to hold you in my arms, and you can _breathe finally,_"

She watched as Korra stared at her unblinkingly, weighing the options of self inflicted isolation or this compromise that Asami had hashed out on the fly. The heiress felt like it was the most important pitch she'd ever had to make.

Finally Korra nodded tensely, she felt it in her hand as her thumb grazed her cheek.

"Good," Asami said standing straight again, "I'm going to bed," she said simply, peeling her shirt over her head when she was behind Korra's chair, and tossing it back to her. "Join me when you decide to stop pensively staring out the window and brooding like Mako."

Korra felt her lips smile, but it took a moment before she found the drive to follow. She still felt drained, and played with the chemise in her hands as she listened to Asami slip into bed and the near silent hum of the jet engine. When she opened her eyes again the cabin was dark, only the oval refractions of moonlight set a path on the carpet for her to follow. She stood with a wobble and saw the heiress' back peeking out the top of the duvet, lying on her front with an arm in the empty space where she should have been.

She undressed gingerly, and while she was soar it was manageable, and saw on what would be her pillow the folded clothes ready for her to change into. It wasn't until after she'd struggled putting it on did she realise she was wearing the last _Ember Island is for Lovers _T-shirt of Kya's and she wanted to roll her eyes only she was buffeted by that warm hopeful bleeding sensation in her chest.

_The Honeymoon is over, _she thought, _but we aren't._

As she slipped into the bed she noticed that Asami had turned her head on her pillow to watch her, vigilance in her tired stare. Korra caught her hand, and wordlessly they slotted together. Asami on her left side, her lithe body melted into her comfortable and soothed, running her lips absentmindedly over the collar of her shirt simply because the skin and cotton lit up her sleep-dulled senses; everything of Korra's her lips touched felt feather like in softness.

She had come to learn that the heiress was a sensory person, she loved touching and being touched, and now that Korra let her, she couldn't get enough. Perhaps that was a bi-product of having been left at the altar, that this wasn't love just need. The Ice Sculptor berated herself for thinking it.

Korra wondered silently if this doubt would always plague her, even as Asami hooked her left leg over hers and Korra found herself kissing her forehead.

They left the airspace of Ember Island very much the same way they entered it, Asami clinging to her asleep, only this time, Korra could cling back.


	22. Chapter 22

Alone, together and finally with no-one watching them, Asami had a hard time letting go of the precedent she'd set in front of the nursing staff. Pretending to be wed had felt so comfortable, with a honey here and a forehead kiss there, it felt a tall order to start shifting gears and reeling it in.

When the jet landed she had roused Korra gently, just enough to get her to put on new clothes, but the pain medication had her quiet and groggy. She didn't protest when she took the laces from her shoes from her and tied the knots. She followed the motions the Carmaker led her through, passports, packing, and prizing the pillow she was still hugging from her arms and replacing it onto the bed; until finally the pair were on the runway, and Korra was eyeing the car that pulled up to greet them with confusion, suspicion, and a pout.

The argument they'd had the night before still fresh on Asami's mind, she let out a breath when she took Korra's hand, and she didn't pull away. In fact when they were sat together in the back of a Bentley, Korra didn't even wait until the divider was between them and the driver before falling horizontally, and laying on her side over the back seat with her head in Asami's lap, nose tucked into her stomach.

The heiress played with the tendrils of Korra's hair, it wasn't long before she was out again. Curled up knees folded into the back of the chair and hand slid comfortably under Asami's thigh like a cat searching for warmth.

Asami could feel the sand still in her shoes as they drove, and noticed the gleam of the roads and pathways where it had rained not long before they landed. So many cars, tall buildings, traffic lights, department stores skidded past them, and all the while the heiress held on to the girl in her lap, keeping her steady over bumps and inclines.

Korra shivered and grit her teeth, fingers gripping Asami's shirt as a cold sweat over came her.

Korra's piercing blue eyes shot open and she gasped for breath, tiny pupils darting as she recognised little else but the woman holding her. It was the panicked expression on her face, and the strained tautness of her muscles, that told Asami exactly what she'd seen.

"You're okay," Asami cooed, "The kids are okay,"

It took a moment for Korra to ease and understand, before she felt a different kind of pain and she rolled to her back. She peeled open her shirt to see the bandages from the previous day, blood had seeped through in her sleep.

"K?" Asami's hands rushed to the the band-aid corner but Korra caught them.

"It's alright," she drawled, "I lay on it funny,"

"Sit up," Asami told her, guiding her to press the expanse of her back lying across her own chest, her hips between her legs, the heiress balanced her chin on her good shoulder. Korra gripped the hand that she gave her, and was grateful for the awkward way Asami reached around her to stroke her cheek.

"How much farther?" Korra settled in, calming, closing her eyes but feeling the tingling sting of drug reduced pain.

"Ten minutes." Asami told her after peeking out the window, "Twenty if we hit traffic."

Korra hummed in acceptance as her head lolled into the heiress neck.

"Don't die on me now okay?"

"Too much to live for," Korra mumbled squeezing her fingers, she opened her eyes slightly, inspecting Asami through a blue half-lidded gaze, inspecting her. "You caught the sun,"

"What?"

Korra lifted her hand, and from the slow meandering route it took towards Asami's face she could tell it took effort and all the concentration she could muster.

"You're all rosy here," Korra's fingertip grazed her nose, so gentle the touch could have been a feather. She was grinning, eyes glassy as her fingers soothed the patches of red.

"I haven't been on vacation since…" Asami thought about it, and came to the conclusion that sounded more devastating than it was, "Since Mom died…I guess my skin was surprised by it,"

"You look so cute," Korra said as she rubbed her ear onto Asami's shoulder, burying herself in her arms and body and scent with an absent mind, and the single selfish bone in her body cheering her on.

Korra lived above an old repurposed firehouse, formerly large red doors painted a lustrous blue for her workshop below. It was in passing Asami realised the ice sculpture she commissioned for her wedding was still inside, finished but unseen.

Korra was perched in the open car door, lazily pawing through her suitcase for her keys.

"Where did you leave them?" Asami rolled her eyes.

"This bag has like a jillion pockets."

Asami dipped her hand into the top one and produced the keys with a big K dangling from the chain. Korra looked at them with half open eyes and said.

"Found them,"

"Come on sleepy," Asami offered her hand and Korra took it, interlocking fingers, taking wobbly steps and instinctively rubbing her thumb against the Carmaker's.

The Ice Sculptor looked mournfully at the bags she, once upon a time, could have lifted proudly, one in each hand, but her left was occupied and the right may fall off at any moment, or already had; with these drugs she couldn't be sure. She was being led into her own home, it looked the same except unfamiliar all at once. Moving walls and melting floors had that effect, but she was grateful for the guidance the heiress provided in this difficult existence.

Asami sat her on her bed, but she hadn't the energy to move so she waited, listening to Asami and the driver pull up the bags, to Asami tipping him, to her walking back towards the bedroom. She stopped in her tracks when she realised Korra hadn't moved and was simply staring at the door, fingers tangling with the faux fur comforter at the foot of the bed.

"Are you hungry do you want me to order food?"

Korra shook her head, braving a look down at her chest and hoping the blood hadn't seeped through her shirt. She started tugging at the buttons unsuccessfully, until Asami came through and took care of the rest for her, peeling the shirt gently off her shoulders.

The Carmaker left the room again, and Korra could faintly make out the sounds of cupboards being opened and closed, bags being unzipped, and water filling a receptacle. When she returned she placed her findings on the bedside table and switched on the lamp beside them, filling the room with a soft glow. Korra couldn't help but gaze at her as the light pulled out every gorgeous curve in her visage, the curve of her cheek, the slight upturn of her nose, the inviting pink lips and glittering green in her eyes. Korra loved her eyes the most, somedays as lustrous and rich as dark emeralds, others bleached leaves in sunlight catching it and holding it in her terrarium corneas. Tonight in the soft glow of Korra's room, they were a warm dark void she climbed into, a velvet viridian that swallowed her little mind whole with a look.

The heiress didn't notice any of this of course, she was too busy nursing her injuries.

She didn't speak or give orders like last time, Korra simply trusted her to take charge, washing the wound and its foul sting, soothing her pain with a tender hand caressing her cheek. It was only after Korra noted there may have been tears on her part. Time seemed to no longer be taking affect. Disinfecting, moisturising, patching her wounds back up. When she was satisfied, Asami took the roll of bandage from the kit and wrapped it around Korra's chest, slipping out the crop top she'd kept on for support after the fact.

The tender treatment didn't end there however, on her knees she untangled the laces of her sneakers and shucked them off her feet, and Korra couldn't help but watch in awe. Her mind was clearing as a wave of emotions rocked through her, and she saw it all through filters of deja vu, ennui, and triumph.

When Asami turned her face up Korra's fingers graced her cheeks, and suddenly she was leaning down and pressing her lips in earnest over hers. Asami caught her, her own hand framing Korra's chin with a thumb and forefinger balancing it in the crux, guiding and gentle. The initial surprise of it was superseded by the sensation of being slotted perfectly into place, as though once upon a time; the pair had been cast together like statues.

When she met Korra's gaze, in the in-between of comforting and heart wrenching kisses, she found it intense glimmering cerulean gazing playfully at her, lips and squint tilted up in that perfect smile of hers.

Korra touched her nose with the tip of her own and it had Asami grinning a well earned weepy grin. Instinctively pushing forward and pressing her back into the mattress. Korra's fingers knotted into her hair and tugged possessively, it sent a shiver coursing down her spine before the heiress' veered away from lips to suck her neck. Her senses overwhelmed her, she could taste her sweat, delicious on her tongue, and hear her voice moan quietly beneath her, the vibration she could feel in her thighs that mounted her hips. The bed itself smelled like Korra, and that in and of itself unlocked a deep fantasy she hadn't been aware of, it was with a rush of visceral sensation that Asami understood; she wanted to paint every surface of it with their entwined bodies. Asami's left hand slipped and before she could think anything of it, she heard Korra's soft, pained voice.

"Ow," it was as gentle as it was heartbreaking, "Ow, ow, ow," and Asami sat bolt upright, scooping her hair behind her ears and clapping a hand over her mouth. She could tell her cheeks were howling red as arousal immediately replaced by shame.

"I'm so sorry,"

"It's okay," Korra told her, trying to sit up to meet her only to wince and fall back onto the bed.

"I started it." she assured despite her pained look, her crooked smile had began to tease her lips. "Come back." she patted the bed.

Asami carefully lay herself beside her on her side this time, propping her head up with one hand, and unsure where to put the other until Korra took it.

"Sleep with me?" Korra asked, "Like actually sleep," she added in earnest.

"No I think I'm going to stay up, make some calls," and like that the mortification she had felt at potentially injuring Korra, was replaced by the sure and certain knowledge that she would have to begin extracting herself from the home she'd shared with Iroh. She felt wave of shame, anxiety and regret, but when she saw Korra's pout forming all that went away. "but I'll lie here with you until you fall asleep."

"Just like old times," Korra mumbled, eyes already closing.

"Just like old times." Asami repeated, arranging the covers around her and started stroking the bridge of her nose. Within a minute Korra's body softened and the Carmaker knew she was asleep.

She watched her, for perhaps too long, before extricating her self from the bed. She turned the lamp off, and set to work.

She threw a lump of Korra's laundry into the washer and guessed, to the best of her logic, the settings. Cool so the colours wouldn't run, gentle so the fabrics wouldn't rip, she felt she couldn't go wrong and if she did, well, she could buy her girlfriend new clothes. I just called her my girlfriend. The thought occurred to her, it had been years since she had started a new relationship, she'd forgotten the rules, and well, she and Korra had ignored almost all of them without thinking. They hadn't dated, they hadn't said the words out loud, just fallen into this new intense melting pot of longing, emotions and sexual tension. The word girlfriend, had not yet been brought to the fray, I shouldn't call her that, she berated herself, not without asking.

The let the G word roll around her mind as she paced the apartment she knew well, but didn't live in, and pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and thumbed the numbers scrawled on there. She took the receiver off the wall after taking a deep, calming breath, and punched in the sequence.

Two rings, and then.

"This is Kya's bar,"

Asami was surprised to hear that voice, and it knocked her off balance before she could respond.

"Kuvira." she acknowledged, "I just wanted to let Kya and Kana know we landed and that we're…" she couldn't say home no matter how hard she tried, "back…are they in?"

"Yeah they're in,"

"Great,"

There was a pause and a silence, and where Asami had expected a normal person to hand over the phone, Kuvira was still holding on.

"Are you going to go get them?"

"I just…How's she doing?"

Asami felt a welt of anger pop inside her like a lava bubble, but in the light of the long marathon of emotion she'd been running these last few days she was too exhausted to voice it. Leaning against the wall, facing the bedroom door she'd left ajar, she could make out a hand on a chest that was elevating and deflating with Korra's breath.

"She's okay." Asami told her, "I'm taking care of her," she hadn't meant it to sound as possessive as it did, but something about the bartender made her want to mark Korra as hers.

"She made quite an impact here, your opponent,"

The heiress didn't know quite how to respond to that other than saying;

"I see."

"I'm not fucking with you…At least, not anymore."

"Right, is that what you call kissing her in front of me? Goading her in front of me? and I'm still not convinced about the surf competition,"

"What can I say, she changed me,"

Doubtful, Asami scoffed internally, but thought better of it. There was a smugness to her voice that made Asami seriously consider the possibilities of weaponising phones so they could electrocute enemy callers.

"They love her over here, she's famous, they're thinking of renaming it the Aang and Korra, they can't wait for her to come back…me either."

"Get Kya," Asami finally seethed.

"Keep me posted!"

The line fell quiet once again, and Asami was dealt with her rage in the mean time. Nice! she screamed internally, Like's Ice!

"Asami?"

"Hey Kya,"

"How's our girl?"

"She's okay, she was groggy when we got off the plane, but she's resting now,"

"Phew, knowing her luck I was worried there'd be …flight issues,"

"I couldn't let that happen so I got a hold of the private jet,"

"Holy-"

"What?"

"I knew you were rich, but I didn't know private jet rich."

"Yeah well right now I'm technically homeless, so,"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just, adjusting to the new normal, trying to be there for Korra,"

"Whose looking out for you?"

For that Asami didn't have an answer, all her friends were on an island salvaging a holiday, or unconscious in the next room. Her family was an even sadder story.

"I'll be fine." she said it a little too late for the older woman to believe.

"I don't think that's good enough kiddo,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means it'll be no good for you or for Korra unless you take care of yourself."

"I-"

"My mother and I will be there by the end of the week, do you think you can hold on by then?"

"Kya, it's okay I've been alone before. I'm pretty good at it." Asami realised she may have been caught in a lie when the memory of being catatonic in Kya's lap flashed before her, "This isn't like last time."

"I know sweetie, but I want you to know you can call me all the same, Kana and I will come running."

"Okay," she breathed, still finding her gaze drifting back to Korra's hand; still rising and falling, "I will."

Asami decided against calling Korra's parents, there was so much explaining to do, she wasn't even sure they knew she had been stood up at the altar let alone that their daughter had taken the groom's place in more ways than just the honeymoon. Adding on top of that, that Korra had been so badly injured, it seemed insurmountable amount of challenging information to impart on a telephone call, being thousands of miles away and ultimately impotent to change anything.

No one knew them better than Korra, and when she was sober and awake, she surmised, they would formulate the best words not to shock the parents into simultaneous stress induced heart attacks.

Even though Korra's bed was so inviting, seeing her own again had its own curious draw.

She left a note on the fridge - Gone for food, Do not leave this Apt.

After she made a few calls to a real estate broker and a moving company, she hit he road.

Dusk was falling, and she knew she'd be asking them to work overtime, but one tends to when a CEO of a famous auto company is on the other end of the phone, and she felt a rush of need to get on with her new life.

She knew what best friend Korra would have said to this.

Slow down; you need to relax; and more recently; come back to bed. But something about being so close to home, and a metaphorically untidy one at that, drove her to action.

It felt like walking into the scene of a crime, which was strange considering nothing had happened there. The heiress felt like she was looking for forensic evidence on the post mortem of her would-be marriage, only this time from an objective stand point. The affection she had aimed elsewhere she could see her home without the rose tinted glasses, and hopefully see the flags that were now red for her to see.

She saw the single glasses of wine first, tipped with prints of red lipstick, left unwashed by the sink. The front of the apartment was floor to ceiling windows, and this let in enough light to show the pristine couches that were rarely relaxed in, or the television she wasn't sure had ever been used out of the box. They were ships in the night, or so she'd thought, and their lives were out to sea, and not in the harbour.

The two men she'd woken up earlier arrived, ready for work and tastefully not asking why it would begin so late.

"I got what you asked," said the real estate man, a squirrelly looking gentleman bearing binders, he spoke in a squeaky voice that the heiress would have attributed to nerves, if it ever changed octave. The more he spoke the more certain she was he just sounded like that. "The best properties in and around Kyoshi Park."

"In it?" she asked.

"Sorry you wouldn't live in it, well for your price range, would it make much difference, a multi million yuan park, or a penthouse next to it?" He dropped the folders on the coffee table with a thud.

"Hmm," she scrunched up her nose at him in a forced smile at the joke, "Nothing too south," she said, "I don't want my…Korra to think I'm stalking her," she added absentmindedly, fingers skimming the pages of photos. She should go there she knew, have a proper viewing, fall in love with the place she was about to put all her things, but something told her not to waste too much of her time with this, because Korra would be waking up soon.

She saw a place that, from inside looking out, overlooked the river and where it led, and in the distance that blue firehouse door calling to her. It's at least a good 10 minute walk away, she justified.

"That one,"

"Very good Ma'am" said the squeaky voice.

He left and left standing was the mover man, staring gormless awaiting orders.

"Most of this stuff is mine," she waved her hand as if to indicate to, well, everything, "I'll help you go through the particulars. It's a rush job but I'm afraid after tonight I can't stay long to help. If you end up boxing up my Ex's things I'm sure I'll send it back to him…or well, throwing it off the penthouse."

He nodded and left, a man on a mission, with a van downstairs with boxes to assemble. This gave the heiress time to take one last look at the place. What was she boxing up that she really cared about she wondered.

Her feet led her to her study, and she saw what was without a doubt the pen Iroh had used to write his goodbye.

She picked it up, felt its weight in her hand, she clicked the top and could think of nothing else than the way Korra held her in the elevator the last time she was here.

I'll carry it for you, she'd told her, How can I have been so dense?

She looked at the photos now and studied the Korra's among them. When a camera came out, Korra would tense up, or so the heiress thought, it seemed that maybe there was another reason her back straightened and lips pursed whenever Asami threw an arm around her to pose. What was hidden then was so obvious now.

Korra had locked herself in a cage to keep from ever making a mistake; to keep Asami from knowing the effects her touch, her kindness, even her friendship had had on her over the years.

As the heiress basked in what should have been a low moment of her life, moving out unceremoniously sans husband, she felt instead excitement filling her at the prospect of exploring Korra's feelings with her, and sharing her own as they came in serendipity.

The phone on her desk rang, and suddenly she felt as though she were caught in a place she was not supposed to be in.

Hesitantly she picked up the receiver, and raised it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Where'd you go?" it was Korra, voice hoarse with sleep and tone equally confused and adorable.

"I went…" she stopped herself at the word home, adjusting with the times accordingly, "Back to the old apartment, I hired some guys to pack it up."

"You're moving?"

"I would have had to eventually."

"It's three in the morning!" Korra whispered incredulously. She was disgruntled by this, by all of it, Korra's head was swimming, her apartment looked strange and now suddenly her Asami was gone. The heiress listened to her rub her eye and make unintelligible sleep-deprived sounds as she rubbed her features awake.

"I wanted to be back before you woke up."

"I'm up. Come home."

This is new, Asami thought, Korra never demanded anything. But that's what it was, and she hadn't said to my house, she hadn't corrected herself by saying that of course Asami wasn't invited to live with her, or any of that anxious nonsense. Somehow among the painkillers and spotty sleep Korra had told her exactly what she wanted in no uncertain terms, and the heiress had the overwhelming urge to obey.

"I have to point a few things out for the movers, but I'll be back at four…is that okay?"

"I guess," Korra sighed, petulant disappointment in her tone that Asami wouldn't be home in the immediate, to which the heiress could only smile at.

"Do you want me to bring you food?"

"Thai," Korra answered immediately, "I have a craving."

"Say no more cutie," it just slipped out, truly, and it was immensely satisfying to hear Korra sputter and wheeze on the other end. She must've been taking a sip of the water Asami left out for her.

"You- you're…you too,"

"You okay?"

"I'm fine! See you at home." Korra hung up to keep from further embarrassment.

The heiress was still smiling when she picked up the phone and redialed their movie night special. The rest happened quickly, and whether that was because she was so looking forward to the next part or not particularly paying attention to what she was missing she couldn't tell. Soon enough she was in the car with warm takeout on her lap.

She let herself in to Korra's apartment with her key, and found the ice sculptor bundled up on her couch watching 24 hour news on mute, the interlaced glow painting her skin and features with the colors of a high speed chase in Ba Sing Se, segueing into a cat fashion show. She tensed out of habit at the sight of her, but in the next moment the new normal set in and she eased.

She'd already had plates and chopsticks ready on the coffee table, chomping at the bit to eat anything that wasn't mush and pills.

"Thank you," she gushed, squeezing her hands gratefully before taking her box. Asami watched her come to life and out of her stupor as she ate. It was only after then Korra realised the Carmaker wasn't eating. "You want some of mine?"

"It's okay I'm not hungry." Asami reached up to soothe her by instinct, and with one hand tucked Korra's hair over her ear, who bashfully bounced her eyes at the tv in front of them.

It was then a rarity in television occurred in front of them then, as though the box knew who was watching and began explicitly speaking to them.

The volcano on Ember Island with its belching flames emblazoned the screen and the pair froze watching the coverage. They saw Korra's board, with the suspiciously attractive mermaid, stuck in the ground being swallowed up by flames slowly. Shots of the helicopters searching, and islanders evacuating in huddles scared and wide eyed.

Survivors of the volcano found alive! The caption read, Sato and ex save victims!

It continued, somehow camera's had found them in moments of chaos, Korra still bloodied being taken from Asami to surgery. The heiress sat vigil at her side while she slept. Interviews with doctors mugging at the camera weighing in on joint tragedy and celebrity gossip. Stock options fluttered in the corner of the screen, rising and falling as opinions wavered. Heiress broken relationship = bad, Sato saves human lives = good, said the caption, showing the heiress kissing her best friends forehead on a hospital bed taken from an angle that meant the pap was likely crouched underneath a curtain. Korra's face so serene as she lay there holding her wrist.

It went on, showing the kids eyeing the camera suspiciously as Jinora and Ikki occupied Meelo with hospital supplied action figures.

Korra snatched the remote and switched the tv off.

"I've never been in the news before," Korra mused, voice soft, body tense as she sat beside Asami.

"It gets old," Asami responded, not protesting when Korra pulled her gently into her left side, head leaning comfortably into the familiar crook of her neck.

"The worst is over, we've had our storm, and the calm before it, now it's smooth sailing." Korra assured.

"It's not the calm before the storm that frightens me - it's what follows," the heiress didn't take her eyes off the TV, now off, as she said it.

"What do you mean?"

"We're the flavour of the month," Asami could feel her throat tighten and eyes threaten to loose tears, "They'll be relentless, until something more interesting happens."

Korra didn't have to ask to know what she was referring to, Asami had been scrutinised more than once in her life, her mother dying, her father's arrest, and now to top it off a celebrity wedding that ended badly, it was all blood in the water to the press.

"We can hide here," Korra murmured turning her head to kiss her temple, "until they forget about how rich, and scandalous you are."

Asami shoved her playfully, catching her eye, inexplicably being drawn in. She remembered her happy places, the hill, the boat, the water, she added Korra's couch to the list as her mouth drew softly over her own.

"Bed?" Asami suggested, eyes closed, fingers knotted behind Korra's neck as she bit her lip.

"Not like last time," Korra warned.

"I'm sorry I got carried away and forgot - We swore three dates first," Asami remembered fondly, "How bout I take you out, seven, tomorrow evening?"

"It's a date," Korra smiled warmly, pecking her lips again before finding her still wobbly feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" the heiress balked at the sight in front of her; Korra in nothing but her dungaree's and bandages atop a ladder, wielding a canister of liquid nitrogen over a vat of cubed water.

"Is that some kind of joke or what?" Korra responded.

"You're injured, you're holding chemicals and you don't even have safety goggles!"

"Relax, I've done this a thousand times. Besides, Kai isn't qualified to do this on his own."

"Hey Miss Sato," from behind the vat leaned Kai, Korra's ice sculpting apprentice, pulling aside is dust mask to show her his optimistic smile.

"Get down," the heiress told her sternly, "now!"

Korra didn't know how to react to this type of undressing, and was frozen in place from the shock of it. Asami has never told me off before, her panicked mind registered, it's kinda hot.

As if to break the tension, the warehouse phone rang. Korra looked at Asami, the nitrogen aloft in her grip and then at the phone, and said.

"It could be important."

The heiress flared her nostrils, dropped the box of engine parts she'd retrieved to work on while watching over Korra, snatched the phone up and seethed.

"What?"

"Asami? Are you back from your honeymoon so soon?"

Korra took the moment to let a jet of liquid nitrogen spray into the vat and Kai closed the lid, it was only then did she notice the color drained from Asami's face.

"I, um," she stammered, eyes unable to look away from the bandages of Korra's she'd changed this morning, and all the chaos they represented. "Actually Senna-"

Korra snatched the phone and slapped a fake grin on her face to remain upbeat.

"Mom, hi,"

The heiress took a moment to analyse what was happening then, Korra tense, and seemingly shrinking under her gaze.

"No she…she didn't go through with it."

Korra ran her hand through her hair nervously, and looked every bit like a child who'd broken a vase and was attempting to hide the pieces of her deception.

"She went, and came back…I went with her, kept her company," she caught Asami's inspecting eyes and shot her a tight smile, "I uh, actually have something to tell you, I don't know if you saw the news, we're back early because I'm injured… I got burned."

Asami could hear the shrill worry squeaking out of the handset.

"Mom - I'm okay, Asami's been taking care of me and I'm feeling better day by day…she's been a good friend."

Her smile sunk into that of one more genuine this time, and her eyes softened, "Just like last time."

A flash of worry marred her features, and finally she looked to Asami and held out the phone.

"She want's to talk to you."

As Asami took it, Korra waved her hands in a cross over her chest and mouthed don't tell her anything.

"Hi Senna I-I'm so sorry I yelled,"

"Nonsense Asami, are you okay?"

Asami hesitated for perhaps too long before responding, but Korra's secretive behaviour threw her.

"I'm fine, honestly, I'm just glad to be home. I'm sorry we didn't call sooner."

"You don't need to apologise honey you're both safe," the heiress couldn't help but well up a little at that, "If either of you need it you can come South, we'd love to have you,"

Asami's aching heart softened at the idea of a trip south with Korra, walking hand in hand in the snow of her homeland, but Korra had omitted their relationship from the news flashes she'd delivered her mother just then and it couldn't help but hurt.

"That would be nice." Was all the heiress could think to say. "But Korra has some treatments with Kya's mom booked at the end of this week, they could heal her a great deal."

"What was she doing that got you so worked up?" Senna asked.

"She was trying to work when she had been expressly forbidden from anything strenuous,"

"You tell her…you take good care of her."

"Do you and Tonraq want to come to Republic City?"

"I can see she's being well taken care of,"

"I could send a jet it's no problem-"

"I'll tell you what, when you're both feeling up to it, you and Korra fly that jet down here and spend some time when you're feeling better. Other wise I'm afraid Tonraq and I will end up just getting in your way. You know how she gets when too many people are doting on her."

"Are you sure?"

"Keep her safe for us,"

"I will,"

Asami hung up the phone, and watched as Korra, ears red, demonstrated to Kai how to sand the round ass of an ice cherub. The boy took the paper from her, tongue on his lip in concentration and mimicked what he showed her. She couldn't look at Asami as she said.

"I'm tired, I need to sleep," she patted her apprentice on the back, "clear the freezer out before you lock up."

"What about the wedding piece?" Kai called back to Korra already mounting the stairs.

"Let it melt."

Kai looked to the Carmaker, still pining over the now closed door, confused and shell shocked in the same moment.

"Did you want to see it?"

Asami snapped her gaze to him, realisation finally hitting her that the 'wedding piece' was the sculpture that once upon a time she'd commissioned from her best friend.

She followed him to deep freeze, and noted this was where Korra liked working best. Amongst the ice herself, with frost permeating on her skin like the ice-warrior princess she was. She'd been gone awhile, so the statues inside, her chair, even her sketch book, had gained a layer of frost and snowy icicles growing from the surfaces of their own accord.

Asami's hand brushed the ice off of the open sketch book first, she saw the clear plans of front and side views on the open page, clear, appropriate and artistically perfect. When she turned the page however things became less professional.

The concept sketches gave way to Korra's sketches of her, the sketches Opal had seen, and Korra had fled from. Asami recognised old pictures, but most were candid, as though drawn from memory. The heiress watching TV with her, lying with her on the beach all those years ago, smiling at her. Asami never much liked her own smile, but when it was drawn with such love and affection, she had a hard time seeing herself as anything other than beautiful, seeing herself as Korra saw her.

It took a moment, as she drew her fingers over the pages and pages of Korra's hidden admiration and closed the book, before she looked up at the Goliath sculpture above them. It was simple, elegant, and also a lie. Ice Asami stood, leaning contentedly back in Ice Iroh's arms, eyes closed serene, safely encapsulated in his arms.

Kai cleared his throat, before offering her an axe.

"I thought you'd like to do the honours?"

She let out a surprised laugh before reaching out and taking it.

"Korra tell you what happened?"

"She didn't have to." he glanced at the closed sketchbook Asami was still touching.

"This must've taken you guys hours, days even, are you sure you want me to do this?"

Kai shrugged.

"If it can be destroyed by the truth it deserves to be destroyed by the truth."

"That's very good," Asami mused appreciatively, "where did you hear that?"

"Peanuts,"

"I am familiar with the lives of Snoopy and Charlie Brown,"

Kai smiled sweetly at her, before looking up at the work of art he had helped create.

"Everything we make here is temporary anyway. It's the doing that's important,"

"And the destroying?"

"That's fun too."

The heiress could only nod appreciatively at him as she weighed her weapon in her hands.

"Thank you for this,"

She rounded the piece, casting her eye appreciatively up and down as her breath clouded in front of her face. She thought very carefully about where to place her first strike. She mused how she hadn't yet managed to kick her ex's ass, but shoving an axe to an ice-ex's ass would have to suffice.

Asami had Korra picked up from the former firehouse by town car. It was odd seeing as Korra was still getting to grips with the different vehicles the Carmaker had available to her such as limo and aeroplane. Getting into this dark isolated stranger's car felt strange and intimidating.

Still, the knowledge that the heiress was waiting for her spurred her on. This was her first date with Asami Sato.

Korra couldn't believe her luck.

Asami had told her to dress up, and Korra thought it might be poor taste to go in an outfit Asami knew she'd worn on another date; particularly a date with someone Korra was beginning to think was Asami's arch nemesis.

Instead, she wore her good slacks, and a white chiffon dress shirt that floated on the chest but hugged her arms generously.

She fiddled with the cuffs nervously as Republic City skated by outside none the wiser, deciding instead to fold them up so they weren't so tight on her wrists. This only left the matter of the top button, glaring at her reflection as she clasped it tight to her throat, what am I going to a job interview? She undid this and then the second and third, twisting the third back when the noted the bandage poking through.

The car cruised to a stop outside an elegant fire nation restaurant, red walls and gold pillars, intricate labyrinthine designs over the doors and door handles, Korra wondered if getting inside would be a test of whether or not she belonged here. Before she could attempt it, a dapper gentleman opened the door for her, and beckoned her inside.

"Miss Sato is waiting in a private booth for you," he announced both cheerfully, and with an air of pomposity the likes of which Korra had never dealt with before. He offered her his hand down the single step, but Korra realised this only after she'd stepped inside.

"Uh…Thanks," she mumbled gripping the back of her neck.

Korra had never been to a place that had ambience. She wondered if she'd chosen this place because it's new for both of them, but when she rounded the last corner and saw the heiress, she knew that Asami was made for places like this. Her red a lucky crimson, her lipstick darker, hair quaffed perfectly and gold hanging from her throat, her ears, her fingers. When she smiled at her, Korra's stomach was hit once again by those relentless and untimely butterflies, except this time she didn't feel the urge to crush them into oblivion. This time she felt the excitement, and let it thrill her.

Asami stood and stopped herself from hugging Korra immediately, the hand she began to reach for her with settling on her good arm.

"Hey you," she kissed her cheek, and it almost felt so alien to hold back, but there they were, acting polite on their first date. "What?" Asami caught her expression; Korra appeared both lost in a trance and bowled off her feet, "Was the car too much?"

"No it was fine it was…smooth."

"It was too much," the heiress whispered.

"It was weird!" Korra admitted laughing, "I was expecting you to pick me up, maybe try to impress me on your motorcycle."

Asami covered her mouth and felt her stomach dip at the opportunity lost.

"I haven't been on a first date in years." she admitted, "I didn't…I couldn't,"

"Hey, it's okay," Korra took her hands in her own, before pushing up on her toes to return the cheek kiss, "It's just me remember?"

"Right," the simplicity of those words juxtaposed with the wonder that was being kissed by her froze Asami, before Korra leaned back and rescinded her hands. "Y-you look nice," she stammered, only internally berating herself until Korra responded.

"You look good too, snazzy,"

"Snazzy?"

"I heard it as soon as I said it - shall we sit?"

They slid into the booth, hiding smiles and all but sitting on their hands. It had only been a few hours since last they'd seen each other, yet each passing moment of this meeting felt new. Korra balanced her fingertips on the table, and after a moment, Asami's own were tracing the shape and crevices of her knuckles.

"We're doing this?" Korra wondered aloud, mostly for herself.

"We've been doing this Korra," Asami reminded.

"I meant this, the dating, getting to know each other this way, not just…sleeping together and you looking after me, or me getting you through. It'll be different, between us,"

"Is different…okay?" the heiress hesitated to ask, Korra had a habit of throwing emotional curveballs on nights like this.

"Different is great," Korra smiled, eyes soft, watching the gentle way their hands interacted on the table, "I'm excited to know more about you," she admitted, before huffing, as though she'd torn through something inside to say "I don't know how I can be any more obsessed with you though,"

Even though she'd dropped that bombshell, she never took her eyes away from their hands.

"Korra," it was a tone of voice the Ice Sculptor was becoming receptive to; and was slowly beginning to understand, because without thinking she looked up, and it almost seemed natural that Asami would kiss her then. Her heart beat loudly in her chest, reverberating as it had the first time, intimidated and aroused by the lipstick being painted over her lips as her mouth printed firmly over her own.

"Are you ready to- oh I'll come back,"

They snatched away from each other, caught, Asami bouncing her eyes and pursing her lips, Korra hiding her lipstick smeared mouth behind a menu and refusing to look away from the starters.

"No it's okay. We haven't decided on food, um," Casually she reached over Korra to take the second menu from beside her, placing her hand on Korra's knee and stroking her thumb there before she gazing at it and was surprised her dilated pupils actually managed to read it, "can we get a seafood platter for the table?"

"Very good Ma'am,"

Silence befell them as the server left. Inside Korra was still reeling as she read, and re-read the word tartare.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to jump like that." the heiress apologised. "He was just um," she looked at the direction in which the server had gone before admitting, "loud,"

"No it's okay," Korra responded stiffly, wiping her lips and forcing a smile, "We wouldn't want reporters to be jumping on the chance to get a picture of us…kissing,"

Like that Asami felt cold, once again stuck on the outside of something Korra was mulling on, ruminating secretly in that vault of a brain of hers. The Carmaker had seen this dozens of times before, only this time she knew exactly what was happening, and how to break through what Korra was building up.

Persistence was key, and nowadays she had a new bargaining chip, flirting.

The hand on Korra's leg rose higher, and she watched Korra's thoughts fly out of her head as her back tensed and eyes went wide.

"What?" the heiress teased, "Too much?"

Korra couldn't answer, the Carmaker changed tactics, free hand brushing her hair back behind her ear, and pressing her lipstick in the space below. Her tongue darted forward and tasted the heat there, as still stoic Korra closed her eyes and felt the thrill of it capture her. Her own lips quivered, and fingertips went numb, inexplicably she couldn't shake the smell the ocean from her senses. Not the ocean, the cave.

When Asami pulled back Korra looked positively mournful, yet her eyes lit up, burning intently at her.

"Three weeks," She lamented, jaw set.

"I know I'm sorry," Asami cooed, her tone suggesting she was not at all sorry, as she ran her fingers through and adjusted Korra's locks, hiding the lipstick marks so only they two knew they were there.

Korra narrowed her eyes and lucky for Asami the waiter came baring a seafood, shrimp, lobsters, salmon and prawns. It gave Korra an idea.

"I'd like to order drinks now, could I get a Bellini and, have you guys ever heard of the Salmon Jerky Margarita?"

"What are you doing?" Asami asked as the waiter shook his head, she took his pad and stared jotting down ingredients for him.

"Punishing you,"

Asami audibly gulped and couldn't ignore the tightening between her legs at Korra's dark tone. Three weeks, she thought to herself crossing her legs, nineteen days minus the three, she counted, I'm going to have to plan something big.

Her eyes couldn't help but drift up and down the show that was Korra's body as she held on to her memories, tight against her chest, curling in her toes.

"Hey," Korra chided, "My eyes are up here,"

"So many memories in those eyes," Asami mused watching with glee as Korra's cool stuttered and slipped.

"We have food," the Ice Sculptor stammered.

"We should eat it," the Carmaker concurred.

Korra handed her chopsticks, and they plucked at the dish while gingerly stealing glances of the other.

"Here," Korra whirled to find Asami holding a salmon roll to her lips.

"What are you doing?"

"I've always wanted to try this, open."

Korra smiled at her and swallowed her current bite, hoping it hid her nerves before balancing the roll between her teeth. She couldn't help but chuckle as her lips wrapped around it, and that only happened harder when Asami asked.

"Wait do you want wasabi?"

"Mm-uhm," Korra hummed in the negative.

"Soy Sauce?"

She bit, tears in her eyes, trying not to choke as she grinned and laughed helplessly. Asami admired her, basking in the glow of seeing her best friend so happy.

"Am I still sexy like this?" Korra chuckled, covering her mouth to hide the food half chewed as she spoke.

"You're sweet," Asami told her, tracing a thumb over her lip and swiping away escaped rice. Korra flushed embarrassed, to which the heiress was only more endeared. Korra felt the fluttering she usually smothered light up her chest. Three words played on her tongue, but she held back. This was only a first date after all.

"Do you remember how to eat this?" Korra plucked at the bowl of ceviche on the platter, and Asami already had the lime in her hand.

"I remember everything you taught me," she said simply, squeezing the juice, ears pricking at the sizzling fish. "How to land a good round house kick, how to beat the snacks out of vending machine," she picked a piece up with her fingers, just as they had on the island, "How it kiss a girl,"

She added popping it in her mouth.

"It's not that different," Korra protested, though she wasn't sure why. Asami rolled her eyes and shoved another piece of fish in her flapping yap.

"What it felt like then,"

"What did it feel like?" Korra asked after swallowing.

"Soft…" Asami remembered it fondly "and wet," Korra choked, Asami shoved her, "we were in the water," but when their eyes met she softened, she couldn't help the trickle in her eye or the quiver of a lip when she added finally, "whole… because it was you."

If Korra's brain restarted on time she would had kissed her again for saying such a thing. Alas karma was out to get her.

"Bellini," said the waiter, placing it on the table, "Salmon Marg,"

"Is this my punishment?" the heiress teased, glancing curiously into the pink in the glass in front of her.

"Now I feel kinda bad about ordering it," Korra admitted, wincing at the memory of that first taste.

The heiress smiled, feeling brave, raising it to her lips and taking her first sip.

"Mgmm," she made the noise as it hit the back of her throat, covering her lips, "this is good,"

"What?"

"It's an acquired taste but so is caviar, my father made sure I acquired that taste when I was nine,"

"It blended fish and vodka!"

"We're eating sushi Korra,"

"I don't think I can kiss you again if you keep drinking it,"

The heiress dutifully put it down and pushed it to the side. Korra offered her the Bellini, and in truth it was much too sweet, but she had priorities now. Namely to kiss Korra whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"We keep falling into these deep conversations," Korra mused.

"At least you're not pussy footing around anymore." Asami jibed.

"Is this where you tell me I wasn't supposed to be afraid of ruining your life-slash-your ex,"

"I'm so glad Kai let me stick an axe in him,"

"How was that?" Korra smiled wryly, secretly jealous she hadn't thought of it herself. Not that she was in any state to swing an axe just yet.

"Cathartic. Chopping off my own head was oddly satisfying,"

"I didn't think you had that kind of rage in you,"

"I wasn't just mad at him at the time," the Carmaker almost couldn't believe she'd let it slip.

A chill trickled down Korra's spine, and inexplicably the muscles in her stomach began to coil.

"Me?"

"I…" Asami didn't know how to start, "your mom," she looked vulnerable and terrifying to Korra in that moment, "you didn't tell her about us."

"I'd just told her I nearly died, you think she could handle another bombshell like I'm dating my best friend?" There it was, Korra's knee jerk defences, she couldn't help it deflect, avoid, evade. Build up those walls quick young explorer, the snow storm is upon you.

"Korra, I've been here for you, taking care of you, I got you out, and she invited me to stay. You really think she wouldn't be okay,"

"You don't understand. I've never brought anyone home before. It's a big deal, I can't take it…lightly."

"Don't you think now is a good time to start? Especially if you've…cared for me as long as you say."

"Not after-"

"Not after what? I swear to god if you say Iroh,"

"She wondered why you weren't on your honeymoon,"

"Because I was with you. I chose you!"

"Yeah and now we're on the news in the open, exactly where I never wanted to be."

"What's so wrong about being open Korra? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Look you've been straight for most of your life, you don't get it. Press can be cruel, I could lose clients, your company has already taken a hit, hell my family might already know and be figuring out a way to ostracise me at any minute!"

This was definitely not how first dates were supposed to go.

"Don't give me that, people have been judging me my whole life, and as for your mother, I get the feeling she's one of the few people who actually like me for me…I think she would at least understand why an us would happen. At least after everything we've been through."

"You don't understand, it's different down there, you don't know them like I do. My dad doesn't have the ideal job for scandals like this, he could lose everything - his own brother is running against him,"

Korra had only told a few knowing friends about herself, mostly by accident, and Kya's gaydar was pretty legendary. As for her parents, well, what happened in the city stayed in the city, coming home she never mentioned it, or deflected questions about boyfriends or babies with a simple, it's just not the right time, or I'm still in recovery. Past trauma proved to be an effective shield.

That and her Father was in the limelight. The number one rule in politics is always be perfect, especially when the competition was so fierce. Before Korra left, it was something of a spy vs spy with her Uncle vying for her fathers position in government, and using his own children to dig up dirt on, Tonraq, the ex-navy seal. Korra dreaded to think what they'd do to him in their little newspaper if they ever found out about her proclivities.

Oh Cousin, she could hear their voices, speaking in unison, dripping with distain, how it would ruin him to find out if you were ever that way.

"It has to be handled delicately," she sighed, "this isn't your family,"

There was a separation between her old life, and new one, it was one of the many fortresses she guarded vigilantly.

Asami sat back straight, fingers gripping the leather seat beneath her, eyes staring at the dishes in front of them unseeing.

"I don't have one of those do I?"

"Asami, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine Korra, you build up those walls again." the heiress stood, dashing cash at the table, "I hope they keep you warm tonight,"

Korra had never seen anyone move that fast, let alone in heels. She ran after her, and almost had her at the exit after she'd slammed her face in it.

The Ice Sculptor fought with the door, finding finally that the handle needed a spinning type motion to work the mechanism. It was then she realised the sky had opened for them, and a famed Republic City downpour had them soaked and shivering in seconds.

"Asami wait," she reached for her, but thought better of touching. "You really want to end our first date like this?"

The heiress only looked up at the sky, letting the rain cleanse her face of tears.

"Why is this so hard?" she asked, "I never fought like this with him,"

Korra gave her that tentative and reassuring crooked curl of her lips and said.

"You only fight for what you care about."

"I don't want to fight with you, there's so much history here and you're my best friend…"

No matter how much they pretended this was new, ultimately there was a wealth of history, of mismatched communications, of secrets uncovered over the last few weeks, that caused them friction. So much was at stake, and it was loaded behind every moment between them.

"You have to fight with me. Me and you against the problem that's what this needs to be - but you can't just storm off when it get's hard,"

The heiress sucked in a breath as her views shifted. She'd ran at the first sign of trouble, but Korra never ran from her when she needed her.

Asami took the wrist of her outstretched hand and tugged her in for a hard kiss. Soft and wet and wet and hard. Asami thought as hard hands gripped her arms and kept her close in the chill. I've never been mad enough to kiss someone in the rain, her fingers tucked into Korra's now soaked shirt, Never until Korra.

"What does this mean for us?" Korra asked pulling back, lips spongey, painted red, pupils wide, breath heaving.

"I need you to stop building up your walls. It's like I said before, I can't hide the way I feel about you."

"I'm not ready for them to know. I've never done this before and…it's you… What if they reject…all of it,"

"I can't tell you that Korra, but I can tell you that I know you've been miserable hiding it. They know too, they just don't know why."

Korra looked up at her, lost for words and bitter pain twisting her lips. Asami stroked her cheek saw the long hard journey that Korra had travelled just to be; here painted on her face, and the longer harder road she'd have to travel eeking through that stoic gaze.

The heiress stepped back, gathering her senses, sobering in the spray, regretting every step she took that wasn't running headlong toward her.

Her car pulled up, such was the service at Quan's Cuisine.

"You're going to your apartment?" Korra asked, but she already knew.

"I don't sleep over on the first date." Asami said matter of factly, Korra thought she saw a flash of a smile, before slipping effortlessly into the driver's side seat after the usher got out.

She watched her speed away, her body shaking with the thrill of it, pit twisting helplessly in her gut, lips still tingling.

"Then she just left?" Kya gawped.

"She just left," Korra confirmed nodding, and regretting it as her wounds pulled and Katara shoved her head back into place with a firm palm as she placed fish skin over them.

The elder woman was grateful, and was more than happy to treat the wounds made in the rescue of her grandbabies, but had a waning patience for Korra's mannerisms and flailing hands as she told her story.

Korra was laid out on her couch, reclined on pillows as Katara sat on a stool bent over a medical vat of tilapia on ice. It was as strange as it was smelly, but Korra couldn't deny the inexplicable soothing sensation when the flesh cooled the wounds. More than anything she wanted Asami to be here, seeing it for herself. More than anything she wanted to have her fingers in her hand so she could be distracted from all of this.

"I've barely seen her this past few days." Korra lamented, picking at the sofa.

"Have you tried calling?"

"She's busy I guess, and I keep…" Korra reflected on how by the time she worked herself up to picking up the phone, whoever was on the line had become frustrated with her, and hung up. "She's mad because I haven't found the right time to tell my parents about us."

"So tell them what's the big deal?" Kana offered helpfully.

"Easy there," Kya warned, "She's not as lucky as we were, Mom and Dad lived all over the world, had seen more than an ice shelf that depended on the breeders to keep the population going and the hunting party strong."

"You have such little regard of your home Kya,"

"You and dad didn't paid little attention to the comments that are fired our way." Kya took Kana's hand out of habit, thumb pressing habitually into her partners thumb, "and worse,"

"The world is full of bullies," Katara agreed, "We were sure never to be one of them,"

Kya looked at her mother, still focused on sewing a blanket of dead fish over Korra's scarring skin, with a cocked brow, but the more she thought about the words the less defensive she became.

"Tonraq and Senna never seemed to have a problem with us I have to say." Kana mused.

"You guys only got serious in the last few years," Korra pointed out, "plus it's different when it's your own kid, your only child. Especially when the world is watching…and Eska and Desna want to murder your…reputation,"

"I always thought those two were in a cult," Kya mused.

"No they just, dress the same and speak at the same time," Korra rolled her eyes, "and hate joy."

"No," Kana surmised, "I'm not buying it. I think this is more to do who you're coming out for, not how you think they'll take it."

"I wasn't- you can't,"

"Listen to that stammer, Kana I think you're onto a winner,"

"Why is it you've never brought anybody home to them? Miss I'm Korra I do what I want and you better deal with it?" Kya jibed accusingly.

"I've never had anyone I wanted to bring home, it's that simple,"

"And now that you do what's stopping you?"

"This wasn't supposed to happen."

The three elder women fell into silence as they watched Korra tense and dart away her gaze.

"I wasn't supposed to fall for her in the first place, and when she got engaged I thought that's that, I'm just her friend, it's all I ever will be."

"And then she fell in love with you back." Kya said, "You didn't want that?"

"Of course I fantasied," Korra admitted before she could stop herself, "I lived in that. I knew it wasn't healthy. Anything else was too good to be true. In reality…"

"Is it not what you expected?" Kana pressed.

"It's better," Korra breathed, tracking her fingers through her hair in despair, "and I'm the one screwing it up. It happened so fast…after so long of being one way now we're another…I can't explain it but I'm not ready to bring her home unless…"

"Unless you're sure?"

Korra hesitated, but the truth had a habit of leaking through the new puncture holes in her armour, and she nodded without thinking.

"Our first date ended in a fight… maybe I just want smooth sailing for just a minute before the next tidal wave knocks us out… but she wants them to know. What if they do and we break up, then I'm out with nothing to show for it… worse, my family and community hate me…I'm just not ready. I'm not sure I'll ever be."

Katara seemed to finish laying layers of tilapia, and studied her patient.

"Did you ever think that by omitting the truth you've been denying people you love the chance of getting to know the real you?"

"Of course they know me, they're my family," Korra responded without a beat.

"Shouldn't they get the chance to step up to this important task of accepting you?"

Korra blinked and regarded the words, she remembered vaguely a post-hospital Asami tell her to be selfish for once, and her never really understanding what that meant. She thought it meant taking, steal that kiss, grab that hand, don't apologise and don't look back. She never expected selfishness could take the form of demanding the right thing from other people.

"I never thought of it that way," she mused quietly.

"You're too busy letting your pain block you from seeing the truth."

"Honestly I think pain is the only thing I understand," Korra chagrinned, "I'm not sure what else there is."

Katara smiled at her, filled with warmth and kindness.

"Won't it be interesting to find out?"

Korra's lips twitched upwards involuntarily as hope bled into her chest. She lived in that feeling as Katara began to pack up and was so lost in it she barely noticed the three elder women putting on jackets.

"Wait? Where are you guys going?"

"To the Harmony Tower!" Kana exclaimed excitedly.

"You didn't expect us to come all this way just to eat your food, stay at your house and spend all our time with you," Kya added with a sly wink, "We've got sights to see,"

"I'm still covered in fish here!" Korra protested, gesturing to her whole right side with her left hand.

"The treatment takes about three hours to gestate." Katara replied simply, tucking a poorly knitted scarf into her coat. "I'll return to remove the proteins but you're going to want to sit tight for then, maybe nap."

"Did I mention the fish? Or the smell?"

"Fine fine, you're such a baby," Kya chided, marching over to the phone at the wall, spying the first number on Korra's speed dial list on the handset, hitting 1 and tossing it to Korra, reclined a full two meters from the wall.

Korra had gone for the extra long cord because she was a wanderer, but regretted it when she realised what was happening.

"Your girlfriend can keep you company!" Kya told her triumphantly, before ushering her own partner and mother out the door. "See you in three!"

The doors slammed shut, and Korra lay there trapped, mouth agape in disbelief before yelling after them knowing full well they couldn't hear,

"You could've turned on the tv!"

"Why are you yelling?" she heard the voice that made her heart skip, small and confused until she lifted the receiver to her ear.

"I uh, Asami hey,"

"Is something wrong? Should I come over?" She was using her emergency voice, one Korra unfortunately was becoming very familiar with as she was usually it's cause.

"No I'm okay, it's okay…" she trailed off, they hadn't spoken in days, and she couldn't help but think they really should've. She struggled to think of something to justify the silence. "I'm covered in fish,"

"You're what?" Asami's tone calmed down a notch. "Oh my god Katara," she gasped "How is it?"

"It's weird. It feels so odd. Like these fish they're definitely dead but are they healing me? Am I absorbing them who knows?" she actually laughed at that, and Korra marvelled at the way the sound of it moved her. She'd almost forgotten she could make her do that. She'd really been a crappy best friend as of late. "The pictures she showed me, I could be back to normal in a few weeks,"

"That's great Korra." Someone entered her office and asked her something. The Carmaker covered the phone to reply in a muffle, "Sorry about that, the way people have been hounding me here you'd think I've been away for a month,"

"You have,"

"I know Korra, it was a joke," the heiress jibed and Korra was glad she couldn't see the flush in her face or the way she bit her lip then. "Kay?"

"I'm still here,"

"Was there a reason you called or…?"

"Actually," Korra cleared her throat, "Kya tossed me the phone before she left. We, I've been thinking about how our date went."

"Oh,"

"I'm sorry I haven't…told my parents I-"

"I'm sorry!" Asami interjected, "I got so caught up in wanting to be open, it wasn't my place to make you come out, I feel awful, and I regret it so lets just forget it for now, we can work around it." she spoke quickly some of the words merged, as if she'd been keeping them in since she'd gotten in the car and driven away.

"Actually I was going to say you were right." Korra heard the measured silence and could tell Asami was simply listening intently to whatever would be said next, bated breath, full heart. "I need to be honest and I want to tell them…but I have conditions."

"Conditions?" Asami asked curiously.

"It has to be in person, I owe it to them to look them in the eye when I…shatter their expectations of me." she pursed her lips and forced the tears forming back into her skull as she lay there, staring up at the ceiling, clinging to the receiver like it was Asami herself.

"Korra,"

"I'll go as soon as I'm feeling up to the trip. I'll tell them. It's about time really."

"I can go with you."

"No," Korra spoke instinctively, initially one of her conditions was going to be that Asami be there, but cowardice got the better of her, and if it was the shit storm she was anticipating, she wanted the heiress to be far away from it all. "This is something I have to do alone…I can do it."

Korra swore she heard a sniffle, and the handset being adjusted in the heiress hand on the other end.

"Do you want me to come over now?"

"God no I don't even want to be here," there was that laugh again, that wet hopeful angels laugh. "It smells so bad Asami,"

"Worse than post run Korra?"

"Worse than post run, post subway on a hot July day and rolling myself in elephant-koi dung,"

"We ate all that fish on the Island?"

"Yeah we ate, I wasn't wearing it for three hours,"

"You know I've always quite liked the smell of post run Korra," Asami admitted. Korra scoffed and she added, "I liked the taste of her too,"

Like that the conversation between best friends shifted into something else. Korra felt it immediately, viscerally in her bones.

"You can't talk to me like when you're not here," she surprised herself with her own dark tone.

"So what you're saying is; I should come over?"

"Did you forget about the fish?"

"Darn it I did," Asami berated herself, and Korra couldn't help but laugh despite the pain it caused, happy tears flew to her eyes as she rubbed at them, "I just, I was thinking about how good our vacation was before the volcano blew it up."

Best friend Korra would have pointed out the fights, the toxic rivalries with ex lovers, the tense days of build up where she balanced her mental state on a razors edge, but when she thought about what it all led to, she couldn't help but say;

"It was," because truly it was all worth it for that first kiss, let alone more. "Come to dinner tonight. It'll be a double date, here, with Katara tagging along,"

"Are we having fish?"

"I'm serious,"

"Does this count as our second date?"

"There is only one thing on your mind isn't there?"

"You,"

Korra could only grin, so hard that speaking was an impossibility.

"I went too far didn't I?"

"No, you're perfect," Korra responded without pausing to think about it. "Are you there?" she asked after another silence. It felt odd having this kind of conversation and not being able to look at her and take in her every expression.

"I'm just…smiling…how dorky is that?"

"It's not trust me,"

"Well, I have another meeting, I really don't want to leave but I should go before you realise that it's the truth. I'm a dork,"

"Then I am too,"

"Dork."

"Hey!"

"I'll see you tonight,"

"Bye," Before Korra could say anything more meaningful the line cut out, and a tremendous weight lifted from her chest. It was until then that Asami had made her forget her situation and she cussed out Kya, Kana and even Katara for neglecting to toss her the remote.


	23. Chapter 23

It was all well and good proposing a dinner party, but Asami had, upon their return to Korra's apartment only stocked it with easy instant noodle meals. She'd had it in her head that they'd be eating together more often than they had and Korra wouldn't want to cook much else in her sleepy state. Which was why it was surprising when Korra made a second call to her and dictated to her, a list of ingredients.

When she got to the door it swung open before she could even get her key in, and she was buffeted by the open arms of Kana. She spied Korra in the kitchen, biding time by finely peeling the one carrot she had left in the fridge before their impromptu holiday.

"It's so good to see you!" Kana told her.

"It's only been a few days!" Kya admonished, "Give her to me!"

Korra smiled at her over their shoulders, before reluctantly returning to what she was doing. Asami noted her chest and ribs had been re-bandaged, and she could see it through her loose vest as she moved stiffly about the kitchen.

She was in what Korra would refer to as her Korra's-comfy-clothes, vest and bike shorts she would wear around the house when she wasn't working. Now that Asami saw her with knowing eyes she saw that these were in fact; sexy as hell. Loose sweats hugging her hips just so, Asami couldn't help but think of how easy it would be to tug them down. Korra's short hair tied up into an adorable tufted tail, that the heiress immediately wanted to run her fingers through and nuzzle the soft ends.

"Earth to Asami?"

"Sorry just-" she couldn't make up an excuse for ogling the chef so she asked, "how's our patient?"

She saw how Korra rolled her eyes as she kept peeling.

"Her skin cells are responding well to the treatment, now it's just a waiting game," the older couple parted revealing Katara, and older, wiser version of Kya, with that same open face smiling up at her.

"You must be the famous Katara, I've so been looking forward to meeting you," she charged her hand forward to shake, and Katara took it.

"You must be the famous Asami Sato," the heiress felt a chill at the sound of her own surname, usually when she heard it out loud it was never in a friendly tone, she could thank her father for that little quirk. "I hear I have a debt to you as well,"

"Oh no it was Korra, really, and I guess Iroh, but mostly she got your grandkids off the island-"

"You're too modest honey," the heiress tensed as the elders hand perched on the one she already held, "I've been told all about it, now if there's anything you need let me know, you have my sincerest gratitude."

"What you've done for her is enough, honestly," the heiress tried to smile encouragingly at her, but was thrown off by the notion of someone earnestly trying to thank her. "Any one in my position-"

The wind was knocked out of her as Katara hugged her then, she only came up to Asami's chest height and trapped her arms, but she managed to accept the hug and eventually melt into it. When Katara let her go she patted her cheek and the heiress swore the look healed a crack somewhere in her soul.

"I better," she trailed off, awestruck and confused, "help Korra,"

The older women smiled at her, and continued their own conversation about how much the city scape had changed, each keeping an eye on the new couple in the kitchen.

"Hey," the heiress stepped close but stopped herself, were they alone she'd kiss her somewhere, on the lips most likely, or her cheek, or temple, but those eyes. She knew they weren't judgemental, but she wasn't one to put on a show.

"Hey you," Korra smiled at her, biting her lip after accidentally turning into her space, thinking the exact same thing. While deciding how exactly to deal with this, it transpired all it looked like they were doing was hanging on the precipice of an embrace, staring lovingly into each others eyes.

Kya cleared her throat and they flew apart.

"So what are we making?"

"Sea prune stew,"

"Aren't you done with seafood?"

"It's vegan, I thought I could ease you back into non-vacation Asami,"

"How thoughtful," the heiress teased.

They fell into a companionable pattern, chopping, cooking, dancing around each other in Korra's relatively small kitchen. There was a point where a dumpling smeared on Asami's nose, and her rage was cut in its tracks when Korra offered to nibble it off.

When the pot was simmering on the stove, the five-some stood over the kitchen island, all holding wine except Korra.

Asami was talking about getting back into work and board meetings and easing the worries of shareholders to an entirely enthusiastic, but not entirely understanding Kana. As they spoke and shared in the conversation she spied the heiress' hand curled into a fist leaning on the countertop. Korra pried them loose and slipped her own fingers between hers. Asami didn't skip a beat in the conversation as she did so, only her lips smiled a little wider and eyes shone just a sparkle brighter.

"I almost forgot," they were done with the meal, and Kya was opening her bag and pulling out an envelope of newly developed photos. "Meelo wanted you to have this," she flicked through and presented it to them across the table, and they saw their first picture as a couple. Korra grinning helplessly, as Asami kissed her cheek. "And don't worry, we have a copy for the wall,"

"Oh wow," Korra picked it up, admiring how she'd never seen herself look this happy. She showed it to Asami, who's face was unreadable but her hand gripped Korra's under the table. Finally she managed to suck in a breath and say,

"Wow," she reached for it gingerly, only touching it with the tips of her fingers and thumb, "tell him it's beautiful." before she thought about what she was doing she was leaning her cheek on Korra's shoulder admiring it from there.

"There's a note on the back," Kana told them and Korra flipped it in response. It was written in three different equally adorable handwritings, Korra could almost hear them squabbling over who was writing what.

To Korra and the beautiful lady Asami,

Asami - Thank you for saving us with your ex husband's helicopter, and for looking after Korra and making Korra happy.

Korra you still owe us a surf trophy in the family.

We shouldn't have let Meelo start this. This is Ikki. Thank you for finding the miracle boat and saving us while you were bleeding. I still have nightmares. Does this mean you're going to get married soon and have babies? Can I be a flower girl?! :)

Jinora here, sorry, just sorry. We are in debt to you forever and we love you both. Thank you again.

Come back soon.

Love from,

Meelo, Jinora and Ikki.

XxxXXXXxxXxXXOOXOXO

"Oh my god," Asami whispered.

"I'm not crying you're crying," Korra whined rubbing her eyes and flinching when a flash went off, when she looked up Kana was holding a camera.

"Meelo wanted your reaction," she said simply and the table fell into fits of laughter.

It wasn't long before Kya was admonishing her mother for quote 'just resting my eyes' and they called a cab for their hotel.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? I have a pullout couch and Kya and Kana you could take the bed?"

"And that leaves two people still unaccounted for,"

"Asami and I could…use the bath tub?"

"Okay you're ridiculous, Korra, it's fine, we have paid for a hotel and we intend to use it…We'll see you soon," Kya kissed her forehead and hugged her gently, to which Korra clung back instinctively.

Asami watched the exchange, until she realised she was staring, and began to clear away plates towards the sink. On her return for more Kana grabbed her and kissed her cheeks, and Kya made a show of doing the same.

"Take care of yourself," Kya ordered.

"And give those bored members a stiff beating," Kana winked and gave her a thumbs up.

They hugged Katara, who hugged back with at least the strength of two old women, and watched them walk down the stair well into the street. Korra hovered by the door for a minute or so after their cab had pulled away.

When she noticed Asami had started the dishes she admonished her,

"No don't, you're a guest I'll do that,"

"Cook does nothing - Guests clear up,"

"You also cooked."

"It's a dilemma," the heiress teased, continuing to dig into the suds with rubber-gloved hands.

"Stop," Korra chucked, catching her wrist and once again stepping into her space. There was but a second where they held each other in the other's gaze, hearts beating fast, orbiting closer inch by inch, before they clicked back into place.

Korra's lips pressing tenderly onto the heiress', who raised her hands before remembering wet gloves and whipping them off without breaking apart. Instead of teasing her hair as she'd had the urge to do on her arrival, she hooked her hands underneath Korra's thighs and lifted her sitting on the countertop and fit herself securely between her legs before scratching her nails at the base of Korra's neck.

Asami upon her return to work had made a point of painting her lips with an extra coating of Scarlet Sunrise. This was her war paint to deal with a sea of ignorance, mansplaining and boredom. She couldn't be happier to be painting it over Korra then, like a flag draped over her mouth in victory. A day fretting over their relationship had made her miss the little things already, things she didn't even remember noticing, but the taste of Korra's tongue, her fingers in her hair, the shy sounds piquing from the back of her throat, she clung to them then. When she made a louder noise she chased it, lips painting a path from her jaw to her throat.

The door opened, but they were none the wiser.

Korra reached up to grab a cabinet handle to ground herself as Asami suckled her pulse point. She was lost in the sensation that made her eyes want to water and toes go numb which was why she flinched so hard when she spotted Kana sneaking her way out, clearing the countertop of her toaster and spices.

"Oh my god!"

Asami was too stunned to do the usual spring-apart-and-pretend-like-nothing-happened dance, she just about managed to turn in Korra's arms, her own fingertips still digging into Korra's hips, as their guest held her hands up and said.

"Sorry! Sorry! Forgot my keys! Carry on like I'm not here," she darted out the door and this time sealed it shut.

Mortified, frozen in their shock, it took a few moments for Asami to loosen her grip just slightly. She put her face in her hands, and tried to remember what breathing was. She lost balance and fell forward and before she knew it her temple was being cradled into Korra's neck.

"Oh my god," she muttered, "I'm so embarrassed," she moaned before Korra gently pulled her fingers down.

"Hey it's okay it's just one of those things, it's nothing we haven't been caught doing before, and Kana's definitely cool," she assured her, "and I'm sorry I flinched it must've scared you, I was scared myself," her earnest attempt at peace keeping moved Asami. Her brows drew together as she admired it.

"No it's not that, well it is…I was about six seconds from putting my hand down your pants."

"Oh!" the word fell out of Korra a breathless laugh, only to wince as Asami brushed her bad side. "I think it's a sign," she lamented, "three weeks no sex is still affect,"

Asami tried her best to not to protest or show disappointment, but as she stepped back and folded her arms she couldn't help but look a little sulky. When she met Korra's eyes however, she melted.

"You have a little," she bit her lip and reached up to thumb away the red, "a lot," she smirked.

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it," Korra teased.

"It's really sexy," Asami told her as though this were a matter of fact.

"You've got some too," the Ice Sculptor traced her own fingers along the re-prints on Asami's skin. Already the heiress was leaning in, and Korra gripped the edge of the counter, "Ground rules."

Asami paused, blinking, eyes flicking between Korra's and her goal.

"Ground rules?" She asked, in a tone that said she'd entertain the idea, but had the right to veto anything that Korra came up with.

"No hands?"

"Is that a question?"

"No hands," Korra repeated more firmly this time, "it'll keep us from…moving forward,"

"Seems reasonable, I think, but only because…I can't think right now," Asami huffed, "what else?"

"You can't kiss my neck like that,"

"I can't kiss your neck?" Asami sounded genuinely perturbed by this notion and it had Korra scrambling the defences.

"It does something to my eyes and my-it's like a direct line to my…"

"Libido," Asami finished for her, and couldn't help but smirk when she added, "noted,"

"Is there anything you can think of? That I do that…gets you going?"

"Other than all of you?" Korra's eyes widened, entirely unable to deal with that information, "The noises. They're too cute, they make me want more."

"Those are involuntary," Korra protested.

"You said what gets me going, but I guess yeah the hands and the necks, it's fine," Asami couldn't help but grip her own forearm self consciously, to which Korra again tenderly pried away the tension.

"Trust me," she told her, poising their every finger tip against each other as she bowed her head, and lips just brushing over hers. Asami was mindful in pressing forward, slow but falling into a flow in tandem. Before she knew it her brain was getting smaller, and all that she could feel was Korra's mouth firmly against hers, and passions arising fiercer than before. Already her hands were posed to cup her jaw and run through her hair, but she managed to stop herself, cupping air and stroking the space above her neck. Korra made a noise, and the urge to rip at clothes gripped her.

She felt Korra's hands guide her wrists, so they passed either side of her neck and leaned on her shoulders, like a high school dance with room for the holy ghost between them. As she moved her however, her hips slid perfectly between her open legs and chests began to touch. It was then Korra pulled back gently, catching her breath and asking.

"How was that?"

"Absolute agony," Asami smiled, "We took away all that and I still want to maul you,"

"We can practice, it'll get easier, maybe,"

At that Asami smiled a wicked smile at her, fanning herself and speaking like a maid on an old radio show.

"My my, is my best friend asking me if I want to practice kissing with her? Whatever will all my boyfriend think?"

"Not funny," Korra scorned, although her own crooked smile was undeniable. She tugged her close and pressed her eyes into her neck as her arms came up around her. It maybe took a few seconds to get that Korra was initiating an honest hug. "I'm so happy you're here,"

Asami took the opportunity to slip her fingers into her hair while she had the chance, and whispered into her forehead before kissing it,

"I'm happy you're here too," It almost felt cowardly saying it, but the name of the game right now was Holding Back.

When they pulled back they were in that space again, but their hands were full of each other, and it was in their new unspoken rules not to kiss while skin was already flush against skin, so Asami stepped back and Korra slid off the counter. She stepped on a spice pot and shattered it. She cursed and Asami hopped to where she knew Korra kept a dustpan and brush.

"Let me help,"

As they had danced making the dinner and this mess, they did so again clearing it up. All the while the game continued, Korra stepped into Asami's space to place some glasses by the sink, but instead of setting them down she held them out to her sides and stole a kiss, the no hands rule still in effect. With every pot, piece of cutlery and chopping board she found an excuse to hold them out sideways and kiss her, some chaste, some less so. Asami gave in only once and cupped her cheek, but the wet rubber glove on her hand shocked her, causing Korra to drop one of her plates.

They could only blush and go about tidying it, learning their lesson only to the point where it wouldn't happen again.

It was when they were back on the couch did they look at each other and share those sweet embarrassed smiles with each other again.

23:57

"Oh my god is that the time?" the heiress balked. Korra knew not to argue, this was work Asami, and she knew work Asami was always in a race against time.

"You could stay," she offered quietly, holding her hand up, palm faced down, for Asami to slot her fingers between her own, "I could sleep on the couch if it makes it easier,"

"Don't be ridiculous Korra, I couldn't sleep in a separate room without sleepily begging you to come to bed with me, and you'd give in. You're a softie."

"I'm sure it'll be fine,"

"I don't want to hurt you, even by accident, it felt…it feels awful," she diverted her eyes from Korra's and watched their hands interact. Fingertips grazing the length of each others digits.

"Alright," Korra conceded, "Can I get a kiss goodbye then?" The heiress covered her instant smile as her eyes brightened and beamed at her.

"Okay, but can we ditch the no hands rule? And instead, just… a minute?"

"Sixty seconds?"

Korra considered it, slow smile building, already her chest was filling with butterflies. Asami took her queue and pushed her back into a recline on the cushions, tucking herself between her legs, curled up knees under either of Korra's thighs, before reaching over to the clock, setting a timer and hitting go.

Sometimes a minute can feel like an eternity, but already as she pressed her lips over Korra's she knew she'd lost 4% of her time tracing her mouth over the crux of Korra's jaw, tangling her fingers with Korra's gorgeous head of hair, pinning Korra's left hand with her own. Korra's hips couldn't help but flutter beneath her, and she moaned, with pleasure and frustration that this would only last so long.

Korra's hands carded through her silk locks, tugging gently, sending scores of tingling sensation all the way to her core. Her tongue tasted hers, once, twice, tasting her was such sweet symphony. She felt strong thighs clamping her waist, aware that at least part of her hips were filling the space between Korra's legs, and those noises, they returned with abandon. Asami could have screamed when the alarm clock rang. Not flinching, but slowing, kisses turning gentle and chaste and apologetic as she extricated herself from the foray.

She stood and looked down at Korra, legs still parted, pawing at her face in her adorable confused, cat-like way.

"Come back tomorrow yeah?" she breathed.

"And the next day," Asami confirmed, "for dinner not dates,"

Korra nodded, biting her lip, eyes closed as she internally placed this memory in her black box for later referral.

"You holding out for lucky number three still?" she mumbled giddily.

"I might be, if you're lucky,"

"Oh I'm lucky,"

Asami huffed, she looked so adorable, her smile, her tousled hair, the red smudges on her lips.

"How's my lipstick?"

Korra looked at her, and smirked.

"Gone,"

It took every ounce of will power she had left to leave her there then, smug and smiling like a siren calling her into the sea.

They fell into that pattern over the next few days. Asami visiting after work, making dinner together, watching Tv with Korra's head in her lap and usually not watching the screen at all. She'd made the mistake of falling asleep there once, and had to slink off in the middle of the night after tucking un-cooperative sleepy Korra into her own bed.

One day she turned up with takeout to find Korra on her running machine, sprinting like an olympian. It was an awe inspiring sight, unused muscles rising and rippling to the surface of her skin as she surged headlong, facing Republic City out her window. Asami was jealous of her perfect form, head and back remaining practically in the same place, her chiselled back rippling with the motion as each movement flowed into the other.

Only Korra wasn't meant to be running with her injuries, and Asami spied the blood seeping through her bandages already.

"Korra!"

She nearly tripped and caught herself, breath heaving, limbs splayed on the bars of the machine. She looked back at Asami, sweat glistening on her face and grin fading.

"What do you think you're doing?" the heiress berated her.

"I was bored," Korra huffed, "I still need to do my physical therapy," she defended, slamming at buttons trying to turn the machine off.

"Yeah yoga or swimming, you're bleeding,"

"It's not so bad, they're small trust me." but to her detriment when she stepped off the track she stumbled and landed on her arm chair. She gingerly tugged at the one three main bandages to check and pulled a face cupping them when Asami reached to see them. The burns had receded some, and took on a paler color while Korra's pigment was returning, but the three main lacerations were under three square bandages that once upon a time had been blood-free.

"Show me,"

"They're fine!"

"Don't be an idiot Korra,"

"I need to move, it's not like I'm allowed to work anymore,"

"Because stuff like this happen when you use those muscles of yours like you used to,"

"I know!" Korra conceded, "I just wanted to feel normal."

Asami had already ditched the food and had marched in and out of Korra's bedroom with her first aid kit. She kneeled in front of her, snapping out the bandages and salves like an old pro.

"I know its boring and I know you love your work, and working out, but you just have to hold on, until you doing stuff doesn't make you literally bleed,"

"But then I can say I put my blood sweat and tears into everything I do," Korra offered. "Ow," she then winced

"Do you want the painkillers?" Asami asked.

"Will you be mad if I say yes,"

"I'm already mad Korra,"

"It's not that bad,"

"Not that bad? Korra you could have injured yourself, passed out, or bled internally by doing this and I wouldn't have been here to help."

"But you are here,"

"That's not the point and you know it," Asami snapped.

"Sounds like somebody needs to get laid," it was word vomit that slipped out and Korra felt like she fell in it when Asami's daggers looked up at her. She narrowed her eyes.

"That too," she reached up and peeled off the first bandage as though waxing a leg.

"Ow! Careful!"

"Sorry," Asami shook her head and reeled in her anger, shouldering the role of caregiver more earnestly, "I shouldn't have done that,"

"I deserved it," Korra grabbed her hand and snuck a kiss on the back of it, "It stings…actually it's agony."

Asami poured out her dosage into her own hand and held them out in her fist. Still mad she needed a way to assuage it.

"Say you're sorry,"

"I'm an idiot I'm sorry,"

"Good…I'm sorry for waxing you,"

"Apology accepted," Korra told her, taking the pills and washing them down with her sports bottle.

"How long until you're loopy?" Asami asked, gently peeling back the second bandage.

"An hour maybe two,"

"So I only get an hour maybe two to eat dinner and share my day with you?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't felt a twinge in days I thought I'd be okay."

Asami sighed, going about her work, accepting when Korra reached up to stroke and play with her hair, turning her head to kiss her palm briefly.

"Am I forgiven?" Korra pried after a while.

"You," Asami stood after finishing the third bandage, and placed her hands either side of her face, "are an idiot sandwich…what are you?"

Korra gave a beleaguered sigh. This was a routine they'd gone through since childhood, whenever Asami was right and Korra wrong, it had long since passed being funny, but it had a certain charm as adults, and even more so as adults who kissed.

"An idiot sandwich"

"I forgive you," Asami kissed her forehead, "let's get some food in you."

She offered her a hand which Korra took, knotting their fingers habitually as they walked the five feet to her couch. Korra watched as Asami set out plates, arranged the meal, and popped open the bottle of white she had been keeping as a wind-down treat in Korra's fridge for their after work dinners. She was in awe of her, looking like she belonged here, like a roommate with benefits, only she didn't live there, and Korra didn't even drink wine. There was a word for it, but even with her inhibitions lowered she hadn't the guts to say it.

Asami caught her staring, and while she was taking a sip of her wine Korra explained.

"You were worried about me,"

"I worry about you," the heiress admitted, "you're accident prone and…I think about you a lot, all day, while I'm at work, when I drive, when I sleep. I need you to be okay." her eyes fell as though realising something, as did her fingers on the stem of the wine glass, when she looked up, Korra was still watching her, half stoic, half curious.

"You're taking this best friends comes first thing pretty seriously." Korra teased.

"Be my girlfriend," It came from nowhere, Asami had never put her heart out on the table like this before, but then again she'd forgotten she'd had one until recently. Maybe it was patching her up, maybe it was interpreting all that fear to mean so much more, maybe she just wanted some clarity in her life right now. She'd come to realise they could dance around a subject all day, playfully and with smiles on their faces, but all that worry riled her up, and knowing she had a short time of lucid Korra left but a time limit on the idea. She had to ask. She needed an answer.

Korra still hadn't answered, Asami reacted to the gaping silence the only way she knew how; she filibustered.

"I know we're dating, and we've slept together a lot, and then things got… messy, but nothing official has been said and I felt like I should get a read on where you think we are and ask, so I'm asking - Korra, will you be my girlfriend?"

Korra in the meantime was studying the words internally in-triplicate. Had they actually come out of Asami Sato's mouth? Was this real? Had the drugs kicked in? Oh God - Am I dead?

When she came back to reality she was nodding, lips parted, but she was sure her jaw had hit the floor the first time she asked.

"Yes," she practiced the word in her head to make sure she wouldn't scream it, loudly and quite possibly in her face.

The next moment she blinked and Asami was straddling her lap, cupping her jaw, kissing her fiercely. Korra tugged at clothes but barely remembered herself. It was much, much longer than a single minute of pawing at each other, biting lips, clawing at hips, they balanced on that edge expertly, but it was agony to hold back all the same.

Korra's stomach gave an angry growl that parted them, and she looked disappointed in herself at the interruption. She leaned forward, pressing her ear to Asami's beating chest, head spinning as she struggled to comprehend what her life had become.

Asami Sato is my girlfriend.

Her fifteen year old self would be very confused but secretly pleased.

Asami led her to the table she'd set and pushed her plate of food toward her.

"You need to eat before bed,"

"I'm sorry I'm still in shock,"

"In shock? Korra, I've been living a nursing her hero fantasy for the last two weeks not to mention we've been dry humping like teenagers for days, what did you think was going to happen?"

"I was building up the courage," Korra defended, "I'm sorry I'm just… careful,"

"I know, sweetie," Asami reached over and tucked her hair back behind her ear, her thumb tracing an arc over her cheek. "It doesn't have to just be you now, you know?" she reminded her.

Korra smiled at her, taking her hand and locking her fingers. They ate like that the whole time, one handed, chests alight. They moved to relax the way they always had, in as the time passed, the movie stopped being as interesting as each other. Soon Korra had her head in cradled Asami's lap, eyes closed as she absorbed the sensations of nails scraping against scalp, of her hair being braided and played with. In return her own fingers traced the seam of the Carmakers slacks, scratching gently, teasing the skin underneath and sending little capillary waves circling soothing pleasure throughout her body.

It was a full two hours later when Korra began to sag and slur.

"Come on, time for bed," Asami tucked her arm beneath Korra's back, but she sat back on it.

"I can't, you'll leave,"

"That's the deal, it's been the deal, come on,"

"Please stay, I'll, I'll be your best friend,"

"Korra,"

"Just come to the bedroom with me, don't go until I'm asleep," Korra nuzzled her shoulder and Asami melted as she looked up at her, baby blues shining.

"Okay," the heiress led her up again, and tried not to think about what she wanted to do after leading Korra to her bedroom like this. She got her water while she changed, still feeling like it was an intrusion unless she was doing the undressing herself. Korra sat perched on the edge of the bed, head threatening to fall, only when Asami looked her way she sat upright.

"I'm okay," she assured her, "I can talk,"

Asami peeled back the duvet behind her and with a finger to her clavicle, tapped her over.

"You were saying,"

Korra groaned, and Asami switched off the lights. Before she could turn she felt a hand on her wrist and heard Korra yawn.

It was one of those times where her heart simply came out of her mouth, because in the dark and quiet she whispered in that adorable husky voice of hers,

"Every time you walk out that door you're too far away." and Asami was powerless to it.

She's already on painkillers, it's not like I can bump her in the night and it'll hurt.

Before she knew it she'd already started to strip. Fears assuaged she sought after the jersey she had stolen the night of her wedding. Folding her clothes on the night stand, untucking her hair from its clips, making as little noise as possible, still hoping Korra was awake enough to be held.

"Move over," she urged in a whisper. While she had changed her mind, Korra had starfished over her bed but she did as she was told. Dutifully, she tucked herself into Asami's arms when offered the chance.

Korra woke in a feverish heat, she tried to lump it, and fall back into unconsciousness, but her headache was relentless and her chest was starting to ache. When she turned she remembered, finding her pillow to be in fact the heiress' shoulder and bosom.

Every twist to rise was a start stop, and here at the first stop she rested her chin on Asami's shoulder and watched her sleep through half lidded eyes. She stayed. The simple fact was a song she had on repeat in her mind. She's wearing my shirt and she stayed. This was Korra's flag, tucked into bed, Fire Ferrets rising and falling on her chest. Korra's eyes adjusted, and she saw the heiress was makeup free, and Korra marvelled the vulnerability in it, the mask she wore for the world wasn't one she kept for Korra.

When she made her next move, sitting up, reaching for water, she could help but still stare, committing her to memory. It was then she admired the small cluster of hickeys at the crux of her throat. Korra couldn't help but smile into her glass at the sense of victory that gave her.

She finished the glass, it wasn't enough, but when she stood from the bed her heart broke a little witnessing Asami reach and paw where she should have been. Korra leaned over and carefully, as though replacing treasure from the jaws of a dragon, slipped a pillow in her place which Asami latched onto.

"I'll be back soon," she whispered, mostly to herself.

"You better," Asami mumbled, eyes still closed, appearing very much still gone from the world, until she repositioned herself and tucked her knees up into the cushion. Korra's smile threatened to split her face, and she couldn't shake it even as she left the room.

Korra opened the fridge and stood half asleep in the waterfall of cold. She filled her glass again, and watched the room as though the days activities played out in front of her, she'd be behind Asami pensively holding a wineglass and asking her to be hers. It was beside her, at the beginning of the week, after their second date, Asami had kissed passionately her atop the counter. She could see the smile on her face clear as day.

The memories were struck away suddenly, when the phone rang, and the chills that were cooling Korra turned to ice and gripped her to the bone. She trained her line of sight on the heiress through the open door, still asleep on the bed in the next room.

If the late night phone call didn't disturb her, the voice on the other end most definitely did.

"I'm outside," Said Iroh, and Korra's racing mind couldn't detect if his tone was malicious in her panic.

Korra bit back her initial remark, hanging onto her lips, deep down she knew she owed him her life. Perhaps he was after a trade. A life for a wife. Korra would have laughed if she wasn't so scared. From the phone she could see out the window, and from his car-phone, stood Iroh looking up at her. He wore a dress shirt and slacks, he might have just been for a dinner, he looked put together if not for the fact his car had parked in skid marks on the park lawn in a swerve. His eyes were glassy even from up here, Korra could sense the alcohol in his breath.

He hung up before she did.

She left doors open to her apartment, but stood between them when she faced him, I can run inside, she assured herself, I can slam the door in his face.

"You mind telling me what this is about?" After a moment or two of staring, Korra made the first move. She glanced up at her bedroom window, mostly to make sure the heiress hadn't stirred and wouldn't come looking.

"Where is she?" Korra could see the bottle in his hand now, half empty, depending on who was looking at it.

"She's sleeping."

He stood up from leaning on his car and Korra stepped to match him.

"I come back to our apartment and all her stuff is gone, without talking to me."

"What did you expect Iroh?" Korra wasn't berating him, she surprised herself, but she said it with a genuine sense of concern and curiosity.

"I thought she'd come home," his face cracked, and eyes began to leak, as he struggled with the cap on the whiskey bottle he'd been screwing and unscrewing. "She'd seen what I'd done and why I did it…I said she could go but I thought she'd see reason she said she'd think about it."

"You saved me Iroh, you saved those kids…you can't lay a deed like that at her feet and expect her to come running back. You do what's right because it's right, not because you want a reward. She has her own feelings and autonomy, surely you can understand that?"

He screwed the cap and pursing his lips nodded, his hands making an odd stirring motion as internally he began to seethe.

"What did you to her?" he accused.

"You really want details?"

"What did you do to her to make her gay?" he snapped.

He was lashing out now, like a bear confused and slighted, standing on his hind legs, swinging paws, and swiping claws.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Korra defended, and then suddenly, she pushed back at the bear with a white hot spear of truth, "You let her go, and she was spinning out of control and I stopped her from going over the fucking edge that you put her on and you know what? It broke her out of whatever heteronormative shell she's been stuck in her whole life, and all I ever did was give her a choice, all I ever did was tell her I would be there for her no matter what…and then like that," Korra snapped her fingers, "She could see my feelings even though I never put them on her, against all odds - she felt it too."

Iroh tasted the words, and they were bitter in his mouth.

"She was gonna marry me," He spat, "she trusted me, I know I let her down but I've changed, I can keep changing to be the man she wants. She'll see that in the end I know it."

"So why are you here?" Korra shrugged, "if you're so sure you'll win her back."

"I wanted to talk to you. Sun Tzu, Art of War I guess," he mused.

"Know your enemy?" Korra laughed, giddy with the insanity of the logic.

Korra had to battle herself not to roll her eyes then.

"Iroh my heart is with you, she's beautiful, she can build things we can't even conceive of, make business her bitch and she can also be so stubborn and sweet all at the same time," Korra couldn't help the want to taunt him then, to goad just a little bit. After all he'd been rubbing it in her face three years prior to this, "we both know what she's like in bed," he winced and closed his eyes, "but she isn't yours to conquer…She's going to do what makes her happy. I know it and you do too. Or else you wouldn't be here at 3am drunk off your ass trying to scare me away."

When Iroh opened his eyes he delivered the kicker, and Korra felt it right in her chest.

"If you loved her all this time why let her waste her time with me? I'll tell you why you didn't want her all that bad."

"I was ashamed." Korra admitted, to him it didn't matter, and she barely caught the way his eyes darted beside her but she continued, "Before she met you, I was driving on an ice road and got in a wreck. I was on my way to tell her."

Iroh's face softened in disbelief.

"I remember… It was so cold the temperature actually froze my wounds. I remember I lay there bleeding thinking…It had taken me years to figure it out, work up the courage, deal with my self-loathing about loving women but I was going to tell her… and everything was going to be okay. But then the crash and I was broken, and disgusting and I hated myself. If I wasn't the way I was I wouldn't have gotten in that wreck, I felt like I was being punished for it. It sounds insane out loud but I actually thought I was being punished for loving her. Then a year or so went by and she met you. I couldn't deny her her happiness Iroh. I thought I had to let her go."

"That was stupid." Iroh hadn't spoken, instead, she wheeled to see Asami behind her, wrapped in a comforter and standing in the street in bare feet.

Korra looked back at her, expression unchanging, stoic still waters that ran deep, now flowing and completely understood.

"I know," Her body was thrumming, with adrenaline, with light, just looking at the heiress wrapped in her possessions gave her excellent satisfaction.

"Iroh we've been over this," Asami addressed her ex now.

"You forgave me-"

"That doesn't mean I love you anymore. You said you'd seal the boxes, what difference was it that I had someone else do it to move on with my life?"

"You were supposed to move with me, move forward, grow together. I hoped maybe we'd find our way back when we were back in the city, back where we met and fell in love."

"Iroh…" Asami's mouth struggled to find the words that'd make him see the truth, "She was there for me. You weren't."

"So you default to her? The first person who touches you? What are you a duck?" he exclaimed, stand tense and lurching forward with anger, fist tight on the bottle.

"Hey back off!" Korra stepped closer defensively before Asami stopped her.

"I love her." Her hand slipped into Korra's, standing behind her but not pulling her back. "I think I always have, but I couldn't feel my feelings. We put on a show Iroh, a good one, but it wasn't who I was. I was dead inside, and now I'm awake and I have you to thank for that. I couldn't see it before. She's the one."

Korra felt the chills again, she probably means it in a dating non serious kind of way but it's a nice sentiment, she thought, but before she could react to it openly Asami went on.

"Your instincts were right the first time Iroh, we weren't the centre's of each others worlds. Not where it counts. Even if I'm not with her I'm never going to see you that way."

The large man slumped, and slid down his car to sit on the curb. In his mind he regarded his greatest mistake and re-read the letter in his mind.

"I guess I never questioned why Korra was there to pick up the slack all those years. It seems so obvious now."

"Trust me it wasn't then," Asami smiled, but only for Korra, who gripped her arm, unsure with what to do with all this positive attention.

He raised his bottle to Korra.

"Pills, can't drink," she awkwardly palmed it sideways, where Asami took it, and knocked back a swig. "I'll call a cab,"

Tension sufficiently diffused, Korra walked backwards toward the house, fingers parting from the heiress' one by one.

"She's centre of your world now then I take it?" when she was gone, Iroh asked.

"I think about her all the time," Asami admitted shyly, scooping her hair behind her eyes and looking at the ground. When she caught Iroh's eye, he didn't look upset, just curious. "When I'm gone, all I think about is the next time I can see her. Every time I look at her I light up inside. I've never had that before."

"Wow," Iroh huffed, "I'm sorry I couldn't be that way for you…I'm sorry…it sounded like I broke you."

"Don't be." Asami told him. "I am at least all, or fifty percent at fault, with why it ended…" She said softly, "More and more since you left me, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, and that it's alright." she wasn't sure of the place this came from, but looking at the man, and all that had happened hereafter, the truth started tumbling from her lips, "I was broken yes, but…the things I experienced later, on the island, with her, were very beautiful for me, and I wouldn't have gotten to experience any of that if you hadn't left. Which leads me to believe in my heart that you are an important person in my life, and I am grateful to you."

Korra was at the door watching the scene.

Iroh got up on his feet, lumbering and being one of the few people that could lord over the heiress.

It was Asami, not Iroh, who initiated it. It wasn't a half-hug, one of those awkward one armed things that men do when they can't feel their feelings, but a full on embrace, bittersweet, and wholesome.

Like the closing of a door, they seal together, and when they part, they're parted for good.

Iroh regarded her, one last hazy time. He finally identified the shirt, he'd seen it before in his and Korra's begrudging mutual-friendship, and he knew a lost battle when he saw one.

When he was gone, carried off to his and Asami's old address, alone and in a drunken slumber, the heiress went back inside the apartment, where Korra sat at the kitchen island holding her water glass.

She was about to ask what she had heard, but that question was answered for her.

"You never told me, about the accident…what you were about to do,"

"I was ashamed," Korra shrugged, "I think I still have some of that in me, I've never been to Pride," she gave a self deprecating smile.

"No Korra no more jokes, tell me."

"I was so afraid of the way I loved you." Korra closed her eyes, once again imagining that precipice, once again preparing to leap wondering if Asami would catch her. She had a better handle on what the outcome might be these days, still she couldn't shake the feeling. "In dark moments, I would hold that love in my mind and just feel it and tell myself it kept me whole but that was me, lying to myself, wasn't it?" she opened them, whole body shaking as she cleansed herself of the truth she'd been sodden with for years. "I said nothing, did nothing, because who could love me the same way I loved you,"

"But it wasn't true, I could've-" Asami's throat closed up and voice wavered. Tears seeping down her cheeks at the loss the two of them felt.

"I know. Like I said before, I'm sorry I let you get too far with him. I'll always regret it," there was a bitter twist to her lips and she shrugged again, teary eyed. Asami crossed the room and took her up in her arms.

"No more wasting time," she urged, "You've sent me on this second half of my life," she told her, "I'm see it now, and I love you for it,"

Korra sobbed, pressing her eyes into her neck.

"I love you Korra," Asami added, she felt like she hadn't said it in a long time and it sounded full, like an I love you from someone who had been saving them up.

"I love you too," Korra told her, leaning into her, holding her back. They didn't pull away, they didn't look at each other's faces, they didn't try to kiss. All they did, in the moonlit part of Korra's apartment, with fading adrenaline, revelation and confession, wrapping each other in their arms without an ounce of selfishness to it.

When they part, they look at each other without saying anything, they stay quiet like this for what feels like a long time. It was a naked feeling, the way these two best friends were seeing each other.

They went to bed, fingers continuing to touch even as Asami pressed herself into Korra's side.

"I love you," she said again, and made a note to say it whenever they were about to sleep.

"I love you too," Korra told her kissing her forehead.

I could do this forever, Korra thought.

Asami had finally given her permission to work, under the condition that she would be there working with her in case, well, just in case. Korra had set her up on her worktop, made for carving and chipping and sawing, now covered in Asami's own blueprints for the next rocket car, and the pieces of it in a box, covered in grease that Asami couldn't help but end up smearing all over herself.

"I thought you said you would work?" the Carmaker asked, not looking up from her calculations.

"Sketching is work," Korra informed her, scratching her pencil on her sketchpad as if to prove the point.

"Whatever you're doing," the Heiress began, yanking a pipe from the engine she was disassembling, "be ready to stop by five,"

"What's at five?" Korra was leaning back on the back legs of her chair, eyebrow cocked chewing her pencil.

"It's a surprise," Asami chagrinned, giving her the side eye, before admonishing her with it, swiping her foot out to set Korra's chair to the ground.

"Is it…dinner again? Or a movie on the couch?" Korra teased, even though it sounded boring, she's loved every second of their little date nights.

"I had something in mind actually," Asami sat up, nervously scooping the locks of hair that had escaped from her bun behind her ears, leaving black smears of grease across both cheeks. "For date three?"

"You're still holding true to this three date rule huh?"

"I'm nothing if not a lady, but also I have been counting down the days, and tonight is the last night. And maybe…I've been planning something special."

Korra smiled at her.

"You're really sweet," Korra's nose nudged hers and she adjusted, lips hovering just above their mark.

"We've got Pride! Yes we do! We've got Pride how 'bout you!" The voices jarred the couple still, a chant coming from the outside in.

Enter Bolin, with Opal on his back whooping and chanting in rainbow regalia. Bolin had a megaphone.

"We're going to have to ask Asami to stop working and Korra to stop being cute, this is a gay emergency we have to take to the street and start a gay riot,"

Mako came in afterwards, fussing with the rainbow mesh shirt he had been given.

"That is an awful chant," Korra stuck her pinky in her ear as if to unpuncture her eardrum. Bolin responded to this by raising the megaphone to her and yelling.

"Let's go fire ferrets lets go!"

"Better," Korra blanched, now completely deaf. "What are you doing here?"

"I might have mentioned that today is Pride, and I know you've never been so…" the heiress trailed off and Korra had the realisation of what was happening.

"This is date three?"

"You guys have only been on three dates? Haven't you been eating dinner like every night?" Mako deduced.

"Korra had a three week sex ban," Opal blurted, and Korra could have killed her.

"Okay, this is not Pride anymore, it's Shame, Shame on you,"

"What? As your girlfriend's assistant I'm party to all relationship goss,"

Korra turned to her girlfriend and pouted.

"Fire her,"

"Union," Asami shrugged, "I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Damn straight," Opal hopped off her boyfriends back and took a fan brush from her pocket, unclipped it and painted a rainbow over Korra's cheek. "Come on it's Pride - get excited, Gay Christmas here we come!"

"You're early," Asami gestured to all of her, the grease, and tools and engine parts.

"It's already five!" Opal tapped her watch.

"It's true," Korra said, "I woke up way later after you left."

"You've been here like no time what have you been drawing?"

"Just a life drawing," Korra flipped the pad to show her sketch of Asami, it was a perfect likeness, right down to the smudged cheeks and wry smile as she worked while Korra watched.

"Aw this is all very sweet, but the parade will be starting soon and I don't want to miss the drag queens, and buff gay dudes in body paint, and dare I say it I am quite partial to a dyke on a bike, Let's go!" Opal urged them standing and started to drag them toward the apartment stairs.

"Can she say all that?" asked Bolin.

"If it gets those two to hurry up, and get out-out then so be it." Mako mused, drawing his fingers over his eyebrows before remembering Opal had given him Rain-brows, and searched for a mirror to check they were ok. He settled for Korra's bandsaw. Looking sharp, Said no-one.

Upstairs, Korra was given armful of rainbow paraphernalia from bags Opal ceremoniously unpacked.

"Guys, guys, this is too much I've never been to Pride, I've never felt like I needed it,"

"Korra, you've been out for a while now, but we've never seen you enjoy it until you-know-who over there, we're here to support you and it's high time you flew your flag and I have just the one," Opal produced three in her fists to choose from, a rainbow, a triage of blue, pink and purple, and finally a yellow, pink and blue number "What is it you label yourself as again?"

Korra's eyes darted to Asami, as if she herself were the answer. Yes she'd slept with women, she'd slept with men, but it seemed meaningless when all paths seemed to lead to her. For the sake of brevity, she took the middle flag.

"Asami you want the Queer blanket, or the Pan-Korra's-my-sexual-awakening flag?"

The heiress considered for a moment, but took both.

"Are you fluid? Or just confused."

"I don't know, I haven't been tested on the Kinsey scale yet," the heiress mused in earnest, studying her options as she considered her status.

"You better get on that," Korra told her "You have to take the course, or they won't let you do me,"

"Ha ha, look who found her humour," Opal chagrinned, dumping more clothes into her hands.

"Is that a harness?"

"You wear it over your shirt," Opal rolled her eyes, Korra was about to protest, but already she could see the way Asami was gazing as the straps and colours in her hands. "Go change," Opal ordered.

Korra was used to the parade passing through the park outside, and sometimes she watched it. More than once she'd used a night in watching movies with her straight best friend as an excuse not to go. That it went on at all was comfort enough. The great wall of sound sweeping Republic City, washing over it for one night only, until it wasn't, and her people tucked away their badges on the subway ride home, wiped paint off with their sleeves, and donned their disguises once more, until the next year rolled around, or they delved into secret clubs and speak-easies away from public eye. She couldn't imagine there was comfort in living out and proud, and re building the wall once the night of freedom was over.

Still, the heiress was on the outside waiting for her, and the last thing she wanted to do was let her down. Optimism, she thought, will be the word of the day.

"You know what," Korra mused, stepping into the living room where Asami and Opal waited, mid-makeup, "This is actually pretty tasteful,"

Asami's eyes were trapped on that all alluring 'V' shape that shaped Korra's naval. Upon her escape she was immediately lost again in the abs that spoke to her. She was grateful, only partially, for the crop top-harness combo that covered Korra's ribs and exquisite shoulders.

"Eye's up here honey," Korra jibed. Asami shook her head, still staring,

"I've made my choice," she made a point of leaning forward, unfurling out a rainbow silk hand fan from the pile and and cooling herself at the sight of her.

"Okay how many supplies did you buy?" Korra spied a pink bag, bursting with tissue paper, that she reached for, "What's in there?"

"Nothing," and Asami snapped it back.

"I saw rainbow…and silicone," Korra's eyed them suspiciously.

"Shall we go?" the heiress asked Opal, blush climbing up her neck.

"I'll put these in there," Opal winked conspiratorially at her, carrying the 'supplies' into Korra's bedroom.

When Korra got a good look at her girlfriend she saw her face was now clean and makeup redone. Her lips were painted in a precise rainbow pattern, red at the edge gradienring through the spectrum to blue in her inner lip. Her eyeshadow a perfect prism of colour and somehow, light. She'd also changed, flags fashioned into a half-skirt around her hips and shorts, crop top showing toned arms with fading freckles, and the long kissable journey from her sternum to just above her hips.

"How did you do that so fast?"

"I may have practiced,"

"When? You spend all your free time with me?"

"At work,"

"What is it that you actually do?"

"Research and development mostly, there's a lot of waiting - let's go!" Asami made for the door, but Korra caught her.

"You've really been planning this haven't you?" her accusation was heartfelt, and her pale eyes melted at the thought of all this effort being made for her. Asami felt the moment keenly, and leaned her forehead against hers.

"Don't make me kiss you yet, this isn't dry," The heiress pursed her lips and slipped past her, turning back to catch her gaze, and turning again to strut as though leading the parade herself.

It started off slow and quiet, as they walked closer to the Harmony tower the more people filtered in. They had no choice but to hold hands in public, Asami mused, for safety.

She could tell from the tensing and clenching of her shoulders now, that she was nervous. She squeezed her fingers between her own, and Korra caught her eye and found her smile in it.

The music gripped her first, vibrant and loud, reverberating through her chest. The scent of fried foods and spices filled the air, before they were pressed against the sides of the barricade watching the floats and different groups go by.

Korra's hand tightened, when she saw countless hands of same gendered couples tangled in the same way hers was. Her heart stopped when she saw them kiss, and smile and share the moment. She saw men in dresses taking dancerly steps, and women with muscles and mohawks and no fear in anyone's faces. In many ways they were like her, but in another they were showing her the way.

"Are you okay?" Asami's voice pulled her from the crowd, and looking back at her. Korra's stunned expression marring her face she looked down at their hands.

"I really have been hiding haven't I?"

Asami cupped her jaw, rainbow lips pursing as her thumb traced the curve of her cheek. Korra could see the effort it took her not to kiss her written in her face, and the effect of it hit her hard in her chest. It was a look she'd seen in her dreams, and Korra couldn't help but steal the kiss she'd always dreamed of in those weak and guilty moments.

"Your makeup!" she remembered pulling back too soon, only to find Asami's lips, dry and unsmudged. The heiress raised a finger and traced it across her lips, before thumbing them searching for residue.

"I think it's dry," the Carmaker shrugged, hooking her hand behind Korra's neck and pulling her in.

"Alcohol!" Opal crowed from somewhere in the crowd behind them, they saw her flask first leading the charge of their oldest friends. "I'm getting you two good and plastered before you go running off to do whatever the gays do when they leave this magical place."

She had somehow accrued many rainbow stripes in her travels, and swigged happily at the flask as she eyed the crowd for the painters. Behind her, Bolin had crawled beneath Mako's legs and was lifting him above the thrall. He looked disgruntled for about a minute before he accepted he wasn't going to be let down and enjoyed the view.

"You two having fun?" Opal asked the two.

"It's only been five minutes," Asami admonished, sulking a little that she had been interrupted. She was on a date after all.

"It's actually amazing," Korra breathed the words as though they'd been locked away for quite sometime.

"Aw don't you'll make me cry," Opal touched her arm before accepting a one armed hug.

Korra took a sip of the fiery liquid she offered and winced as it went down before passing it over.

"Should you be drinking?" Asami asked.

"No more pain, no more drugs, not for days. I'm better than normal," Korra grinned at her, and even though Asami eyes dropped to where the bandages, smaller than ever, covered her wounds beneath her clothes, it wasn't enough to rain on her parade. "Why I'm practically gay,"

"That," the heiress jibed before taking a swig, "was terrible,"

Chests on fire, hands entangled, lips tasting of the other, the pair laughed the way only two old friends could laugh together. Korra couldn't help but notice the shift and the intense delight of it all.

Best friends don't look at each other like this, Korra thought, they don't feel this way about each other. A small part of her, in the back of her mind, twisted and turned, restless and uneasy. If we're not best friends anymore, what happens when this all ends?

She shook her head, and the thoughts were buffeted by music and laughter and the strong hand gripping her own.

"Are you okay?" Asami mouthed, brows arching. It was too loud to really go into it, and Korra wasn't sure she wanted to. I just want one day, Korra thought to herself, where I don't ruin this with my stupid fear. So she nodded, swallowing the golf ball of anxiety that had a habit of blocking her throat.

They followed the parade until it spilled out into a square. Korra let Asami lead her the whole way, looking back at her every so often just to check Korra was still with her. It was a ridiculous gesture but it sent a spike of joy through her every time she caught her half lidded eyes and the sight of her biting her painted lip.

Opal threw her arm around her shoulders, and Bolin was annoying his brother with bubbles he'd procured out of nowhere. They'd been out like this hundreds of times before, usually with more alcohol, in darkness or a club, usually she had to dart her longing gazes away before Asami noticed, not that she ever would back then.

The now the difference was everything, the heiress' fingers between her own, when they stood together her arm rested in the small of her back, and when she was sure no one was paying attention, Asami kissed her cheek.

The stage lit up with dancers and drag queens and the music began to play a familiar song.

I want to dance with somebody!

"Oh no," Korra mouthed, smiling as Asami gripped her harness and dragging her into the crowd.

"Oh yes, we're dancing to this," the heiress told her. Korra took her by her hand and gave her a twirl.

When they found space, they found that Opal and Bolin were already making out in the crowd, Mako was sipping his cocktail looking awkwardly up at the sky, doing the two step.

"We need to find a him a boyfriend," Asami whispered in her ear. Korra laughed and looked at him, to which he looked shocked.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"We're making plans for your gay future," Korra told him.

"What makes you think I need a man?" Mako jibed, "or a woman," he tacked on, just in case.

"I don't know what to tell you," Asami smiled at her girlfriend, cupping her jaw, "I just recommend it," she added before kissing her lips.

As Mako groaned mockingly they made a point of dragging their friend into the foray.

"I will never get used to seeing my exes make out." he balked.

"We can go?" Asami offered. "We have catching up to do anyway,"

"And leave me with them? No way!" he wrapped his long arms around them and sung louder and prouder than anyone around them. When Bolin and Opal finally unlatched from each other and joined the party, the songs zipped past, and despite being in a group with friends, they had a hard time letting go, making up for lost time.

When they found themselves on the dance floor of a club, their friends were scattered getting drinks or in Mako's case, awkwardly chatting people up. It had become a habit of theirs to slip away without thinking.

Who can think when a body like that was pressed into you? Korra thought, Asami had turned and in the thrall of the club and thrum of the beat swayed as it pulsed through her. Her back pressed into Korra's front. Korra's hands found purchase on her hips and kept them tight against her, but her lips traced her neck lightly, until the heiress reached back and carded her fingers through her hair encouragingly.

Korra turned her, and spun her until she was smiling ear to ear. Without thinking she dipped her, and even though she couldn't hear it she felt her laughter in the lithe body pressed against her on the return. They fell out of rhythm with the rest of the world, and Asami crossed her wrists behind Korra's neck when she was stood against her again.

"Do you feel prideful?" Korra heard Asami's asked in her ear, hands cool on her neck and soothing, her thumb skimmed her lobe, her fingertips slipping into her hair.

"I feel lucky," Korra told her, hands finding her hips. "I never thought I would get-"

"I know," Asami caught the train of thought, she gave a hopeful smile. "This feels like a total fantasy,"

"You fantasised?" Korra teased, cocking her head to the side giving her that confused puppy dog look she was so talented at.

Asami bit her lip, stepping back, holding on only by the fingertips.

Before Korra could question, or begin adorably retracting her statement, Asami mouthed, "Come see,"

Has she been here before? An errant, pointless thought Korra had as she followed the siren out the side street from the club. Asami stood under the street lamp like a prize.

Korra closed the door behind her, damming the flood of sound behind them until it was muffled, and they were alone.

Asami stepped close and raised her hands either side of her cheeks, but didn't touch. Her own lips came close, but never met the mark, as her hands hovered and mapped the expanse of Korra's jaw, throat, and shoulders, an inch above, letting the energy radiating from her hot skin fill her. Over the weeks she'd mastered this sating sans-touch reiki, and she knew she would miss Korra posing patiently as her muse, lost in the intimacy that came with simply sharing the same air. When she reached her ribs, Korra's fingers traced the back of her hand, they flinched from the spark of it. Asami let her fingers tangle with the harness at her chest, readying her grip, but not enforcing it.

Korra stepped forward, Asami stepped back. Korra's lips caught hers before her body did, gentle and teasing as she traced the edge of her mouth with her cupids bow. Her hands tangled with the hem of her shorts as she guided her back until the sculptor had her pressed flush against brick.

Raising her leg and hooking it behind her as she kissed her fiercer and deeper, angling her head in Asami's palm to keep it firm, listening with glee to the soft moan she tasted then. Asami's lithe body twisted eagerly beneath her, legs entangled with her own, thigh raising purposefully higher as her fingers gripped her skin insistently. It had been so long since nothing was between them, it took no time at all to forget themselves.

All Korra could think was how lucky she was to have this. All Asami could feel was the strong hand ripping away the tangle of flags that kept them from getting closer, while the other braced behind her back, practically lifting her from the ground. Her core throbbing with the anticipation of the yet to come.

Asami's hands smeared the rainbow on her cheek, and arm, as her lips painted her own, and bit, as though into a sweet delectable fruit she had been deprived of for far too long.

When the camera flashed, Korra flinched as though struck by it.

"So lovely to see you again cousin," sneered one voice, monotone and devoid of joy.

"And most fortuitous for us that we can catch you with your friend," echoed another, equally monotone.

Camera around his neck, Desna took another picture of the girls frozen in a half twisted embrace, this time facing he and his sister.

Asami's brain caught up to her and she stepped between the intruders and her girlfriend.

"What do you want? Who are you?"

"Did she not hear me say cousin?" Eska mused as though she wasn't even there.

"Her wits must be dulled by the alcohol and her homosexuality."

Asami recognised them finally, if their blue serape style suits weren't giveaways their matching bangs haircuts would have been enough. These were Korra's cousins, of her uncle, Tonraq's political competitor.

"We shan't be saying long," Eska shrugged, "We got what we came for."

"You came for what? We were just kissing," Asami defended.

"Evidence; Chief Tonraq's little princess is a godless homosexual with no morals." Eska almost had laughter in her soulless taunting voice.

"And he'll never be re-elected for the coming re-election what with the traditional values of the tribe."

"Give me the camera," Asami put her hand out firmly for it, ignoring the smeared of lipstick on her own lips and boxing up the happiness she had recently been filled with, she felt fire oozing from her eyes as she said, "Or did Korra not tell you that we were both MMA champions, we haven't forgotten how to break bones, have we K?" she looked back at Korra, face stoic and lost, before she reached forward and held her forearm gently.

"No one threatens the offspring of the future Chief of the-" Desna's monotone went up a key.

"It wasn't a threat," Asami seethed, "It's a fact. If you don't give me that camera I'm going to bury it into your skull, that's a threat - see the difference?"

"You wouldn't," Desna's eyes shrank but his skin grew pale, she stepped and he leapt back out of the alley and into the crowd, gracefully darting in and out of bystanders.

"How'd you find out?" Korra finally said, watching her girlfriend take off after her honour wrapped her in a blanket of pride. Still she couldn't help like this was the tipping of the first in a long line of dominoes. Dread kept her rooted, and it was though the freezing cold of her homeland reached across the country to grip her then, and a welt of anxiety the size of a golf ball blocked her throat as she asked.

"We saw you two gal pals getting close on your hospital bed on the news. I suspected something more."

"So you decided to spy on me? For what?"

"For our father, to bring yours down a peg, his upbeat attitude and positive motifs irritate me…but mostly out boredom."

Korra looked at her cousin and couldn't see anything particularly out of character. Eska in particular was a human magnifying glass, and Korra often felt like the ant in their encounters.

"You can't tell them. I haven't even told them, it'll crush them, more so if they don't hear it from me." if she didn't feel so numb she would have made her begging sound more pathetic.

"You should have thought of that sooner." Eska scorned, a smirk slipping through her usually blank mask.

"You're such assholes." Korra sighed before whipping the flags that had fallen on the ground and running past her cousin. She could run after Asami but there was a chance the cause was already lost. The ground rushed past her feet and all her plans for her future fell away. She turned for home, sprinting, knowing the nightmare had come true, and she would finally have to come out, or be outed.


	24. Chapter 24

Desna found himself quite unceremoniously surrounded by sweating writhing bodies. When his sister suggested this mission of truth, he didn't realise it could be a suicide mission. In all his years sliding sarcastic comments across various high ceilinged rooms, he'd never flicker of anything in his frozen heart, but he had it in this throat as he scanned the crowd. Only a penguin can know how I'm feeling, he mused, stumbling over his own feet, a penguin being stalked by six foot seal with a black belt…and possibly a knife.

His head whipped back to check behind him, the instant before his front collided with something hard and leathery. He saw the beast he'd collided with and found himself caught suddenly in his paws and staring up at rosy cheeks and fluffy beard covering them.

"Hey there fella," said the bear. Kind eyes warm and glittering, he asked "First pride?"

"and last," Desna spat, reeling, scanning the crowd, in his desperation considering if he could persuade the large homo to protect him.

"Oh well in that case," the gentleman responded good natured-ly, draping a garland of flowers over this young man's shoulders, "Happy pride!"

If Desna wasn't bowled off his feet before, this man's unfettered kindness knocked him for six.

Were he to spend more time in this parade, and purge himself of the folie à deux for an hour or two, he might of reconsidered a few things. Perhaps these people deserve a chance to - oh shit she's near oh fuck. A flash of velvety black getting bigger in the crowd had him bolting like a hare in the snow.

The heiress had no choice but to run after him.

Too many times she'd seen Korra suffer, and this was the first time she could do anything about it.

I can't let her down.

Asami had originally chosen sneakers so she could dance for longer, and run back to the firehouse with Korra at a moments notice, she was all the more grateful for them then as she darted through the throng. Closing the distance until Desna was trapped behind the fountain in the middle of Harmony square. He tried to run around, but Asami being taller and infinitely more agile cut him off. Her instincts kicked in before he collided with her, she gripped his lapel and his arm, hip-checked him, and sent him careening into the water.

A stone fish spat water at him as he stood soaked, and sputtering. All poise at once drowned out. She reached over and snapped the camera from the strap around his neck.

He watched in disbelief as she ripped opened the back of the contraption and unspooled the undeveloped film before tossing the device back to him in the water.

She was the dragon at the end of the pond, breathing fire as she boiled the water with her glare.

"Korra won't say this because you and your sister are family, and she's kind, but come near her again with your heterosexual agenda and I will use everything in my power to wipe your side of it from the face of the Earth. Understand?"

Desna regarded her shivering, from the cold or the fear he wasn't sure, but after a moment thought better of it and nodded.

"Good," she watched as the film over exposed, paling their sins into oblivion. When she heard the water make waves she snapped, "No," Desna froze, "Stay in there,"

It was petty and she knew it but seeing him cower was infused her soul with intoxicating power.

When she returned to the alley Eska and Korra were gone. Asami already could feel her inner compass following where she knew Korra would go.

It felt like a fever dream, that had suddenly turned into something dark and anxious, and no matter how hard she pumped her legs she couldn't run fast enough.

When she got to Korra's firehouse, the door was left open for her. Korra had ripped out a suitcase in the living room and began to pack from the laundry in the dryer and clothes she stored in her used to need closet. Her decisions kept changing, and changing again. She would pace every so often toward the phone, knowing it was the fastest route to achieving her mission, but it was also the cruelest.

She shoved in piles of mismatched random clothing, and realising they were wrong tried to correct it only to feel the plummeting of rage and guilt swathe her into a stupor, staring down at her possessions as though they could help her make any sense of what was happening.

"K?"

Korra looked back at her finally, blue eyes resolute, if a little sad.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to leave you."

"It's okay," Asami reached for her, and took her arms in her hands, before running her fingers over her cheeks and shoulders, assessing the damage, nothing physical, "What happened?"

"They're going to tell the whole tribe the truth." Korra said gently, and she forced a sad smile, "Eska's going to order a press conference as soon as she gets back on that ferry. They're probably developing the pictures as we speak," I wonder if I can get a copy for the wall? She had the after-thought but didn't voice it.

As her panic returned she found her function again, ripping winter jackets from her closet shoving them into the case and slamming it shut.

"Korra you don't have to do this-"

"I know I do." Korra snapped but her anger wasn't aimed at Asami, "I left it too long." she added soberly, "I've always owed it to them to tell them the truth, I just, I could never find the right time."

She closed her eyes and set her jaw, willing her thrumming heart to be still and internal organs to stop twisting.

"How much time does this buy us?" Asami opened the fist that carried the celluloid, crumpled and overexposed, the evidence destroyed, "I kind of threw your cousin into a fountain, they have nothing now,"

Korra's breath fell out of her then.

"Asami I- I can't believe you did that."

"No offence Korra, but your cousins are kind of dicks hm-" the end of the sentence with silenced with lips, pressing gratefully against her own. The oxygen that had been sucked out of Korra's world flooded back in.

She pulled back instinctively, the minute timer in her internal clock still in place. She could count the seconds that followed, everything in her body aware of just how close Asami was, looking at her the way she was, and how finally, nothing stood between them.

"K?" the letter escaped Asami in a breath, unable to push out any more as her lips trembled and electricity coursed through her.

Gingerly the heiress reached forward, a jolt passing through them as her fingertips grazed her jaw. She leaned in, viridian eyes dark with lust, soft lips brushing gently over Korra's, evoking memories of an island half a world away. Korra's hands pressed firmly into her hips, determined to stay in the tableaux of this moment, right up until the blade of Asami's thumb stroked her bottom lip ignited a fiercer kiss.

Lips slanted solidly together, breathing each other in, hands gripping whatever they had spent all this time missing.

Korra had done her healing, and distance they'd enforced had been her salve these past three weeks, but now all they could think was staggeringly good it felt to finally give in.

Intensity built as Korra's tested her dormant strength, flexing recovered muscles as hands scooped Asami off the ground and guided her reclining back on the couch. Asami moaned as Korra mounted her hips. Capturing her lower lip between her own and her tongue, tasting her lipstick and eagerly wearing it through to the spongey pink lips beneath.

All the while keep one hand planted on the couch, propping her up.

Asami made a point of slipping her own palm beneath, entangling fingers, gripping fiercely for an earthly tether. With the other she took hold her harness and hauled her closer, until their chests pressed together, and she could listen closer to the small sounds emanating from the back of her throat. Her hand mapped inside her shirt in search of them, winding up through the tight grip of the straps to land a finger on the dip between clavicles.

The heiress languished a kiss that would last for longer than sixty seconds. When her mind switched gears, trying to navigate the harness in order ascertain the likelihood of keeping it on if she removed Korra's shirt. A puzzle that was hard to solve with all her braincells numb to anything but the searing pleasure of having Korra's body pressed against hers.

Arousal coursed up her spine as their hips locked into a rhythm when tangled legs slipped into place, and the kiss gave way to a gasp of recognition. Korra pulled back, pupils blown and breath shattering. Asami gazed up at her, black eyes goading her, pushing her over the edge simply by pressing thigh higher into the apex between hers legs.

Korra was so wound up such a simple act, even clothed, was enough to drive her wild.

She dove for what she'd longed for, mouth latching onto her pulse point, fingers tangled in black silk, earning a keen from the goddess beneath her. She kissed her deliberate path down the column of her neck. With a brush of her hand, Asami's top bunched up and her breast was revealed to the open air, pert nipple stroked to attention by Korra's thumb before lowering her mouth to the peak, fluttering her tongue as she suckled. Fingers still laced between Asami's, gripping tighter as her lithe body rose to meet her and nimble fingers were carding her fingers through her chestnut coloured hair.

Korra's eyes flew up, memorising the way Asami's teeth were biting her smudged rainbow lipped smile, her live nerve endings tantalised by her tongue, her emeralds to rolling back into her head.

Korra's fingers tapped on the top button of her shorts.

Asami took the hand and guided it past the latch, silky wetness already seeping through her jeans; desperate for friction. Korra rubbed hard, feeling the shape of her through stiff unyielding material.

Unbuttoned, whole body rising, adjusting, lips finding home on hers again as Korra's hand found the angle she wanted, hidden beneath denim, middle finger slipping her panties to one side before she poised at the edge of soft slick folds.

The clothes were constricting but Korra couldn't help but curve her wrist, splay her digits and play with her. Asami held back a gasp, anticipating ecstasy with closed eyes, all the while pushing her legs apart readily for her. The lilt in her voice heightened as her breath caught in the back of her throat.

Waiting as patiently as she could, yet still being unable to stem the way her body reacted to skin on skin contact, that sweet tension becoming too much to bear. Korra relished in how her whole being twitched beneath her with each gentle graze.

Eventually Asami couldn't help her impatient curving spine; lifting her hips, coaxing her to touch her deeper.

She took a breath, before Korra's fingers stroked her finally, lavishing her entrance, adoring the sound it made as clit kissed palm. Shuddering, her hips began to buck helplessly as her frantic swipes bore her on. Korra's wrist changed angle and Asami moaned with relief when her fingers slipped inside her. Thighs flying higher, back arching as Korra filled her.

Korra could never get over her best friend riding her hand, her fingers pulsing over slick ridges inside, as her thumb and palm held her and stroked her firmly outside.

Internally, she adjusted with the times - she could never get over her girlfriend twitching at every stroke, and inner walls clenching and pulling her in.

She kissed eyes open; she couldn't help but look at her expressions as whole body writhed and shivered, brows arched inward. Soon enough Korra pulled away to watch the nuances that fascinated her; her lips formed an 'o', every few seconds she'd open her eyes to look up at her, only another stroke sent her eyes rolling shut to watch the fireworks.

"Korra-" Asami's hand clawed down her back after she sighed her name breathlessly, "Kiss me," she demanded, and Korra obliged. The heiress' tongue parted her lips and met with hers, tasting her, craving the sensation of Korra being inside her, as above, so below.

Korra fucked her harder in response and Asami keened, pressure building, stomach tightening, arousal climbing to it's peak. Her thrust slowed, once, twice, until she was on that edge and Korra kept her there, perfectly balanced.

The third was interrupted with the tsunami of blinding pleasure. Back arching, everything in the world falling away, all except Korra and supple lips straying from her own as the heiress rode her through it. It was as if her body had saved all the would-be orgasms just for this moment, because in the chaos of curse words, cantering hips and screaming a name, the heiress was buffeted by multiple toe-curling, mind-bending climaxes, each more intense than the last. Whole body wracking as she melted into the ether, astral projection gripping her girlfriend fiercely until finally floating down back onto the couch.

"Ugh," she caught her breath, reanimating from the orgasmic primal scream as Korra still lovingly caressed her cunt with shining fingers.

Straightening her spine, Asami tapped out and pulled Korra's body solidly down on top of her.

"Stop ngh," she bit her lip and pressed her lips to Korra's hair.

She couldn't protest however when Korra's fingers continued to play with soaked folds and fingertips gently stroked her clit. To Korra, there was something so satisfying about making her jolt.

In the afterglow they lay there, Asami catching her breath, Korra occasionally stealing it. While Korra didn't move her hands, Asami framed her girlfriend's face with hers, swiping at misplaced stands of hair with her thumbs, trying and failing to come up with the words to thank her for such an experience.

"Are you okay?" Korra asked, a little shy, but also a little smug, thumb brushing stiff clit.

"That…was…ngh," she jolted again, "I lost count," she offered simply leaning forward, reclaiming her lips in indulgent kisses. Her body had turned to butter as a result, and she took her time regaining faculty of her limbs by holding Korra against her. Nose tucked into her hair, inhaling a gorgeous scent she didn't know she'd missed. There were certain things she didn't know were from the island, or just Korra, she was relieved that this sweet smell was all her.

"This wasn't how I pictured it," Asami finally sighed.

"Pictured what?" Korra asked, still stroking, "Sex or pride?"

"Both," Asami admitted, still twitching, "Sex after pride."

"Oh," Korra balked with recognition. Asami had made plans, and Korra was embarrassed to find they had been bulldozed by the day's events. "What did you ahem, what did you…expect?"

She asked, finally pulling her hand out of her shorts to prop herself up on her elbows.

Korra could barely make eye contact as she posed the question, adorably picking at her sofa cushion while waiting for a response. Asami turned her head with a hand to her jaw she informed her.

"All my clothes off for a start." She regarded between them, and while her crop top revealed a breast, nary another item of clothing was out of place. "At least my shoes…I've never been fucked in shoes before."

"You seemed pretty impatient about that," Korra countered.

"Don't get me wrong I'm extremely happy with the way things turned out but …I wanted to fuck you first," she looped some of Korra's hair around her index finger, "I bought you something for it."

"Me?" Korra hated the way she stammered. Asami nodded, emboldened by it.

"If you're up for it?"

"Anything," Korra answered without hesitation, or indeed knowing what 'it' was. She'd imagined doing all sorts of things for Asami at this point, and whatever happened; Korra was at her mercy.

Asami's eyes glittered as the possibilities possessed her.

Hand to chest the pushed her sitting, before righting her clothing.

"Go sit on the bed, close your eyes,"

Korra nearly stumbled from the couch as she stood.

"Do you want me to…?" her thumbs hooked into her harness as though about to take it off, but Asami shook her head.

"I'll do that."

Korra nodded, for someone who had just fucked Asami literally senseless, she sure was susceptive to feeling intimidated.

When she sat on the bed, she kept her eyes closed, head bowed, hands gripping the edge of the mattress. After a few minutes she heard Asami close the door behind her.

"No peeking."

"I'm not!" Korra defended, unable to stop her smile, even as she bit her lip. Her fingers still slick with Asami. She jumped when she heard her again, closer, dutifully keeping her eyes shut.

"I'm right here," Asami assured her, "This'll make it easier to keep the secret." she informed her, gently wrapping silk across her eyes and tying it around her head. When she was finished, she brought her lips to her ear and whispered, "Stand for me."

"I didn't know you had this in you," Korra felt her wrap her fingers around her wrist, and bring her hand up to meet her naked breast, nipple still wet from where Korra had sucked. Asami kissed her as her thumb and forefinger circled, twisting it lightly.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time Korra," she whispered when they parted, earning a shiver. Korra felt the release as her harness's clips, one by one, became unclipped. Korra hesitated to lift her arms, it was then she remembered why their celibacy had been enforced, and the scars of it were about to be revealed.

Asami cupped her cheek, and Korra knew, this was all part of the plan. She turned her head and kissed her palm before pulling harness and shirt above her head.

"Careful," Asami righted her blindfold, and before she knew it those skilled engineering hands had reassembled the harness around Korra's chest. It was Asami's turn to lick and suck the column of her throat, tempering her bites in the crux where neck met shoulder. She tasted sweat there, a testament to the effort Korra had put in to fucking her, intoxicating and delicious, and Asami didn't waste a drop of it on her descent.

Slowly she kneeled, and it was Korra's turn to be overwhelmed with long lost sensation, the hand cupping her breast encompassing, as was the way she took Korra's peak into her mouth through the straps, tongue laving her nipple, suckling and savouring her. Fingers hooked into Korra's own shorts and tugging them down as Korra's fingertips mapped her shoulders.

It shouldn't have come as such a surprise to feel Asami bow her head back and kiss her dripping cunt, but here she was gasping sharply as her insistent tongue sought slit and lapped in even strokes. Korra nearly fell off balance, but Asami anticipated this, caught her and guided her until the backs of Korra's knees bent at the bed.

"On the pillows," said the velvet voice in the darkness, and Korra did as she was told. She could feel her watching her as she waited, anticipation riling her up until fingertips grazed her thigh, and Korra felt the bolt in every part of her. Those fingers brushed the inside of her thighs, guiding them apart, tantalising her skin.

She moaned, frustrated and fucking turned on, not knowing where the heiress would start, and not seeing her expression as she was being agonisingly slow about it. She felt an arm coil around her leg gently, and a fingertip brush an erect nipple as Asami's weight countered hers on the bed.

The higher hand traced down, her nails scoring softly into her abdomen, before combing past coarse hair.

"'Sami?" it was then she felt the fingers part her, and a tongue begin tantalising pink. Being blind intensified everything, she could feel the vibrations coming off the heiress swiping tongue in every sensitive part of her, behind her eyes, her lips, reverberating from the inside out. When two fingers entered her, pumping shallowly that's when the cunnilingus changed; Asami was using her whole mouth to lave and kiss and suck at sensitive flesh.

Korra couldn't catch her breath as she dug her head into the pillows and couldn't help but grind her hips with the heiress' rhythm. Naked, say for a harness, hands gripping the quilt and Asami filling her so exquisitely while painting sure and hard circles on her clit.

If Korra had a voice she would have told her how she'd fantasised about this a thousand times; of actually being fucked by the heiress in her own bed. Only this time she wouldn't wake with her touching herself, sweating and filled with shame. She felt the flashes of guilt wearing thinner. She couldn't help it, despite this being all she wanted she worried somewhere along the line she'd taken advantage of her friend in a vulnerable moment and she didn't deserve the kindness she gave to her.

Until she stole a peek, down through the seam of the blindfold.

Those thoughts were dashed out of her head by the gaze those green eyes were giving her from between her thighs. They were the eyes of a woman possessed by a single task; spurred by weeks of fantasy, using all she'd learned, Asami would assuredly and utterly fuck her girlfriend into a state of pure astronomical bliss before the night was out. Before Korra could dwell on it, her orgasm hit her like a freight train. Asami didn't let up until she stilled her quivering legs, stroking her thigh as she guided her through.

Asami kissed the expanse of her body, even going so far as to press her lips lingeringly to the pale scars that were scattered over Korra's shoulder. All the while being careful not to press her own body into Korra's, not yet.

"I have something for you, but only if you want it," she leaned in and kissed her, and Korra took half a second to respond as she hadn't been able to anticipate it, but relished in tasting herself all the same.

Before she could question, Asami took her hand and guided it to a very specific place. In the gap between her legs, there wasn't, and Korra's fingers were guided around something hard, and very erect.

"You can look,"

Korra pulled up the blindfold and saw that Asami was wearing lingerie on her lower half, and in a ring at the front secured in place, a dildo made of all the colors of the rainbow jutting out at her.

Korra was stunned to see it, but would taste a lie to say she'd never imagined this. She peeked up at the heiress, who was beginning to look nervous in her silence, and moved her hand to her heart, but more specifically the straps on her chest.

"I trust you." she told her and waited long enough to see her smile with a blush dusting her cheeks, before replacing blindfold. She felt the bed tilt as Asami reached for something, heard the pump of a bottle and realised it must be lube. She felt the chill of it as Asami's fingers soaked her even more for good measure, before she positioned herself at her entrance.

"Tell me if you want me to stop," she made it clear, hand carding through Korra's hair comfortingly, Korra took that hand and kissed her palm.

"I have a feeling it'll be just the opposite," Korra shot back, smiling blindly, easing back into her pillows as her fingers played over the heiress' hip.

Asami's hips were angled close, and Korra felt the tip of it draw slowly from her clit to her entrance, Asami's thumb replaced it there, as the member slipped an inch inside. There was no resistance, in fact Asami swore she could tell Korra's entrance was contracting around it, drawing her further inside naturally. Korra closed her eyes, as her hand found purchase on the nape of Asami's neck. The carmaker could only watch her face change as she moved and memorise every second.

Korra sucked in a breath, head falling back gave a gentle groan, Asami paused to witness the wanton way she worried her lip. Bit by bit Asami parted her and filled her, tugging in and out with the gentle rutting of her hips. Korra pulled her down to taste her again, enjoying the rarity of being penetrated, and both of Asami's hands free embrace her.

It was just as unusual for Asami, having to move her hips in the opposite way she was used to, curving her spine to be sure she was right where Korra needed her. As she fucked, building speed, feeling Korra's legs rise higher and finally cross behind her coccyx, as her own knees tucked as far beside her as she could go, the toy now completely inside her and their bodies flush, slotted perfectly together, she offered.

"It vibrates."

Again it took a moment for Korra's brain to connect the dots.

"Settings?"

"Serious, risky and heroic," Korra laughed at that last one, but became instantly distracted by the manufactured curve of the cock hitting just the right spot.

"You decide."

"You are my hero," Asami breathed, kissing her neck, reaching between them to turn the ring at the base. When the vibrations began Korra stiffened, thrusting tighter unable to formulate a response that wasn't pure unintelligible keening. Asami concentrated on keeping the rhythm going, firm, deep, using her grip on the harness to pull herself faster into her, pumping in and out, her pussy becoming increasingly wet and slippery. So much Asami could feel her juices painted on her own skin.

She wasn't sure what came over Korra when she rolled her, riding from above, but Asami took the opportunity to suck her nipple into her mouth. Reaching down she changed the setting once more to 'risky'.

The ice sculptor jolted, and Asami caught her, lifting her onto her lap and sitting upright, with Korra still baring down on the dildo inside her.

When Korra came, she quickly found herself in the next peak, before she could even land in the valley. Asami could feel her wetness dripping on her own legs, and was dying to feel it with her own fingers once again, slipping in where bodies met, and Korra moaned.

"One more,"

When Asami turned the dial to 'heroic', and it was as though Korra had been struck by lighting; back suddenly stiffening, hips stilling, falling back onto the bed trembling, thrumming between her legs incapacitating her. Asami happened to look down the moment a slick milky stream squirted onto her thigh from inside her. The sight alone incensed and aroused her, and the heiress followed her base instinct to grind her hips down, gripping onto the bed frame, pumping those last long deep thrusts as she shuddered uncontrollably beneath her, and Korra continued to cum harder than she had ever come before.

Korra hit the mattress with her hand, and Asami could have laughed.

"Are you tapping out of this bout Korra?"

"Please stop fucking me before I literally lose my mind."

She turned the ring until the member stilled, and Korra felt her insides flex and adjust around it.

Asami continued to kiss her face as she pulled it out of her and threw it glistening onto the carpet somewhere. Then she tugged the harness off of Korra's shoulders and lay, her arms folded, on her chest.

"Did you come?"

"Are you kidding me? Like a dozen times!" Korra laughed, huffing catching her breath, doing the math in her head, "You're catching up,"

"Have you ever squirted before?"

"I what?"

Asami took her hand, while the other pulled up her blindfold, and ran her fingers through the glaze on her thigh.

"Oh my god," Korra muttered covering her mouth.

"What it's a good thing right?"

Korra covered her eyes as tears began to leak, not because she was upset; she'd had a taste of nirvana, and she was so grateful it had happened.

"Korra?"

Korra kissed her, trying to convey the happiness she felt then with lips alone.

"Are you okay?" Asami pulled back, still a little concerned at this strange giddy Korra.

"Do you know how hard it is to get someone to squirt? How lucky? Asami you've- you've mastered pussy,"

It was then the heiress felt the giddy passed onto her, and she couldn't help but begin laughing and kissing her gratefully as Korra cupped her cheeks, a real sense of joy settling in.

"That was epic," Korra huffed "and all that planning you put in makes me feel bad about just fucking you on the couch the first chance I got,"

"Please your couch is one of nine places I've fantasies doing you in your apartment,"

"Nine? It's only four rooms."

"I know what I said," Asami teased, lips curled in a fantastic smile, "I've missed this,"

"I could've been doing you the whole time you know," Korra returned it with her own crooked grin.

"It wouldn't have been fair," Asami scrunched up her nose and Korra caught it beneath her forefinger.

"I adore you," The hand that pointed; caressed her cheek. "I adore everything you've done for me."

"Somebody had to teach your cousin a lesson." Asami shrunk behind the compliment, already her eyes drifted to the scars, and her fingers breezed over them featherlike in their touch.

"I don't just mean that,"

Despite the time limit Korra was under, she seemed oddly calm and resolute.

"You were so scared before." Asami noted, "You don't seem that way now."

Korra's rainbow tinted lips found her smile.

"When I saw them, it was like my coin has been tossed, and in the air I knew instantly the side I wanted it to land on; what I wanted to do, where I want to be when it lands, and who I want with me when it does,"

"What are you saying?"

"Come with me,"

"Now?"

Korra nodded, conviction never wavering.

"I was dumb to think I should do it alone," she admitted, almost shrugging, mind bathed in clarity, "without you it's only half of what it means to be gay," she exuded a breath as internally, she stamped the date and time in her little black box - first time admitting out loud I'm gay - 00:15 Saturday August 26th 2001. "Not that I wasn't before when I was alone but, you make me happy, I want them to see that."

Asami was silenced by that, moved to her core. Her best friend wasn't prone to bouts of open emotion, particularly pleasant ones not plagued by self doubt, but the words you make me happy, had her spellbound.

For so long Asami had the fear that Korra, like everyone else, might leave, because what was in it for her to stay? Her therapists would say she had a lot of love to give, which was easy for them to say, it was abstract, intangible. Knowing there was a genuine reason, finally made her feel safe.

"You think we can do this at last? Be an us?" she asked.

"Let's put it this way; I don't think we're best friends anymore,"

"So what comes first?"

"You," cheesy as it sounded, Korra's eyes brightened at the word, finding her crooked smile easier and with the confidence to flick her gaze down to her lips.

They came together, this time light of the baggage that plagued them, that they were ruining something treasured for a risk that might not work out. As Korra turned her, and instinctively poured her fingers in her hair, they tried on their new roles, finding them better suited with nothing between them.

"On that train of logic, don't you think we should have left to tell your parents by now? Before Eska and Desna call the press conference."

"I can…call them and tell them not to open the door or answer the phone?" Korra balked, "honestly a lot of today hasn't gone to plan." she admitted, only now feeling the repercussions of their sexual divergence.

"I can have a jet on a runway in thirty minutes,"

Asami extricated herself from the bed, excited, if a little afraid, to meet the parents she'd met already under entirely new circumstances. Her mission was clear, but a hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Ten more minutes?" Korra eyes were wide and expression open, her lips almost pouting, it was difficult to say no to. The heiress couldn't help but smile at her, before nodding and dutifully tucking herself back into Korra's arms.

"Make it twenty." she murmured, snaking her arms under and over her ribs, and letting her fingers map the expanse of that beautiful muscular back.

It would make front page news on the Tribune the next day, a Sato Tech Jet landing in the harbour just like any other biplane in this sleepy Harbour Town.

"I didn't think it would be such a big deal," the 27 year old Heiress of the Sato Fortune, would be quoted as saying, "I'm just dropping off a friend to visit her parents!" she would add flippantly, amicably threading her nimble arm through the arm of one hometown Ice Sculptor, Mayor Tonraq's only daughter, 26.

Korra's name would not need to be printed, despite not living there for near ten years, the whole town already knew who she was. Plus Ginger wasn't much of a reporter, but she was all the island had, and where her writing lacked, her sources were spot on.

Korra hailed a cab, one of six on this side of the island and ushered Asami inside.

"Who was that?" Asami asked, "How did she know to be at the harbour with recording devices?"

"It's Ginger, she'll do anything for a scoop, she listens to the plane and boat scanners, and is in everyone's business." Korra lowered her voice, "The second I come out, or if Desna and Eska out me, she'd be the first to know and spread it until I'm chased out of town with pitch forks."

"That gossipy bitch,"

"Asami! She's still in range." Korra threw back her gaze conspiratorially.

"I can take her," Asami mused gazing back, watching her jet take off to a warmer climate for stand by.

"Would that be before or after you take off the sumo suit?" Korra teased.

"I am adept to warmer climates okay?" Asami defended, barely able to fold her arms in her expedition sized winter coat. Korra on the other hand, had hers wide open, t-shirt exposed underneath.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have just called to let them know we were coming? You know she did offer,"

"Trust me it's best they have no warning when I return, my mom would light the beacons, start a feast, it'd be like a holiday except the punchline is I destroy their hopes for me in front of all their friends and family."

Asami unstuffed her fingers from her mitten and placed it, icy, on Korra's cheek.

"You don't know it's going to be that bad. Stay positive. They might already be on board. They were for Kya weren't they?"

Kya was a different story, she wasn't the daughter of a tribal leader, and didn't have the expectations of heritage and family lines to be passed down through her strong cultural lineage. They had Korra for that, or so they thought.

Korra only smiled at her, wishing her words were true, but unable to find stock in the hope Asami was pushing at her. She took her hand between her own and rubbed away the ice the heiress couldn't shake.

"Holy sweet mother how are you doing this?" Asami shuddered as the warmth shot through her.

"I'm adept for colder climates," Korra shrugged, not anticipating the heiress unzipping her coat, mounting her lap, and pushing herself into Korra's. "'Sami?" Korra squeaked, both mortified and bemused.

The heiress was reminded that they had promised to, for lack of a better term cool it, while on Korra's home turf.

"What? I'm just a friend, asking her space heater friend to please keep rubbing your fire hands into my skin please and thank you."

"Ugh," Korra grunted, but did as she was asked. Palming oblong circles from the heiress' shoulder blades to her hips beneath her shirt. Asami relaxed into her, and was tempted to fall asleep there and then, if the cab had not come to a halt.

Korra wrapped her coat back around her, feeding her arms back in before zipping her on her lap. She looked up into her eyes and whispered.

"Follow my lead."

Asami nodded, peering out the window to check reconnaissance before pecking her forehead with a quick gentle kiss.

"No more of those," she warned, smiling despite herself.

They'd arrived in the late afternoon, despite swearing to leave and having a jet ready, it was easier to put off the inevitable when the now felt so satisfying.

"You need to be thinking straight," Asami had reasoned, slowly kissing a path up the curve of Korra's spine, "Relax, sleep, we'll leave first thing," she'd added with the best intentions.

"Ginger not knowing is a good sign, at least," Korra mused.

"You mean we could've had more time in bed this morning?" Asami teased.

"Eska and Densa might've decided to take a more personal approach," Korra surmised eying the house in an attempt to see the threats in store, "As much as I wanted to take you up on that offer… to use your toy on you,"

"I do look forward to you fucking me raw with a strap on," Asami mused happily, smiling as though the thought alone was keeping her warm.

"Korra? Asami?"

The heiress pivoted on her heel, cheeks howling red as she silently checked for signs that Senna had heard her.

"You came!" Senna had opened the front door instinctively and in seconds had gathered her long absent daughter in a hug, who stiffened initially, before melting into the embrace. "I'm so glad you're here and you brought a friend! I was starting to think you were hiding them from us."

When her smaller frame buffeted Asami, arms circling in a soothing manner, she breathed a sigh; decidedly in the clear.

"Asami's a CEO mom, she's busy a lot, and so are the others,"

"Well a party for four it'll be, but I wish we'd have known we could have prepared."

"We didn't want to put you out," Asami defended, sensing the tension building in her girlfriend a few feet from her. "and with Korra's injuries healing a quiet visit home is just what the doctor ordered."

"We can have our family physician take a look, he does house calls-"

"Mom it's okay I've had Katara treating me, there's some scarring but no pain," Korra's eyes flashed guiltily to Asami, who despite her polite willingness to stay with the conversation was starting to turn blue, "Let's get Asami inside before she's a Sato-sicle."

"Ha ha that's cute," Asami drawled sarcastically, "and accurate,"

"Maybe we can invite him over anyway," Senna winked conspiratorially at Asami, "Now that Ms Sato here is single."

"I-thanks but I don't need to be set up." Asami was already having a hard time lying to Senna, maybe it was how similar she looked to Korra, maybe it was because she was just as kind. She'd felt a kinship with her for years, perhaps similar to the one she'd had with her own mother. Watching a loved one going through hell and back could do that to a person.

"It's inappropriate is what it is!" Korra seethed, folding her arms.

"I'm just saying if your friend here with the private jet had a reason to come back and forth, maybe you'd visit more often."

"You heard about the jet?" Asami asked.

"Tonraq has the Comm Scanner going in the den. Hard to miss a Sato Tech Jet pinging off the tower,"

As they carried the bags inside, Asami leaned close to Korra and whispered.

"What is it with this town and scanners?"

"Everybody wants to know everything." Korra shrugged. "It's a small island." she added as if that explained anything.

"Well, you two have impeccable timing, your father and I finished decorating the guest bedroom just last week, and well it's not five star hotel…"

Asami internally adjusted her expectations of spending the night cosied up in Korra's childhood twin and managed to interject.

"That sounds lovely, if it's anything like the rest of the house," she threw a cursory glance at family photos, open wood furnishings and of course, fur accompaniments. She was surprised to find oars of a row boat that looked suspiciously Maori, and a mantle of knick knacks she herself had perused on her visit to Ember Island. In many ways Kya's house was the Summer version of this Winter home, filled with as many happy memories and deep family histories.

Korra never mentioned home when she could help it. She'd visit in moments of weakness, only to be reminded why she shouldn't have in the first place.

To look at the house, painted in rich browns and deep blues, you'd think Korra had never left. Her coats, smaller than her fathers, brighter than her mothers, and marital arts kit bags still had pride of place on the hallway hooks. Her childhood drawings still displayed on the fridge to draw the eyes to a demure kitchen, though the ones in pencil had faded from being exposed to the light for some twenty years. It was clear to the heiress then that Korra's parents missed her a great deal, and looking at the way her girlfriend watched the same scene, eye brows drawn in and eyes glassy it was clear she missed them just as much.

"It'll be a second home," her eyes fell on Korra then, watching her curiously, head tilted and lips twisted as though she'd tasted something bitter sweet.

When the trio fell into silence Korra broke it.

"I'll take the bags."

"I'll get a start on dinner," Senna added, "I was expecting Tonraq to be back soon, he'll be so surprised you're both here,"

Korra gave a tense smile, before marching away like a beautiful, dutiful bellhop, leaving Asami to stare after her, and to cover, volunteer.

"Oh you don't need to worry Asami,"

"I see ingredients for seaweed noodles, Korra's favourite no?" Check. Asami thought internally, as Senna's expression stilled, "I altered the recipe to give it an extra kick with some sashimi, she really enjoyed it," checkmate, she added watching that expression twist. It was a subtle reminder to them both the times, plural, Asami had taken care of Korra.

"You've been such a true friend to my daughter…" Senna wiped at a tear, casting her eyes over the food as she calmed her sorrow, "I don't know how I can ever repay you,"

"How about letting me show you the recipe sometime?" Asami smiled down at her, guard up, but still eager to impress her girlfriend's mother, even if she couldn't know it yet.

When Korra re-joined them, they were settled in to idle amicable chat, chopping ingredients catching up. She sat on the kitchen island, watching them work in awe, imagining how different it would all be if the truth was out, and if maybe it went well. She studied them, in her mind each encounter seemed loaded, Asami keeping the secret, and Senna pressed up against it, unassuming of its looming presence.

Korra did her best to remain calm, and relied on old patterns for comfort, picking at a sea prune on the board the heiress was chopping and chewing on it. Asami swatted her hand away before she could claim a second.

"Hey!" the heiress laughed, hand catching her prone fingers. The touch jolted through them, eyes met and Korra's pout faded as she watched Asami subtly wet her lips as her eyes dropped down to her own.

"Korra make yourself useful and stir the pot." Senna told her, they snatched away before realising her mother hadn't turned.

She hopped off the seat and resolved not to make eye contact with Asami for the rest of the trip.

It was then Tonraq walked in, hanging his livery collar and dropping his briefcase in full honey I'm home regalia.

"Oh wow!" he exclaimed, crossing the distance from door to kitchen in two strides and taking his wife and daughter into his arms in a swift strong embrace, "All my girls under one roof!"

Korra wriggled in his grip, pushing herself up over his trunk of an arm, feet barely touching ground as her worried eyes flew to Asami. It was then Tonraq noticed her finally.

"And Asami!" he boomed happily, reaching toward her. She smiled politely to him, giving him her hand to shake only to be pulled bodily into his hug. Strangely three people fit snugly in the politicians arms. When she opened her eyes she was looking into Korra's, her side pressed against her own, conflict marring her face in a way neither of her parents could see. Asami's own expression reflected this, not being able to touch and comfort Korra, not in the way she wanted.

"To what do I owe such an honour?" he went on, releasing them finally, the younger girls taking vigilant steps back and putting an island, of the kitchen variety, between them.

"I'm feeling better," Korra's pinched smile said otherwise, "I didn't think I needed a reason to come home."

"Of course not!" Tonraq recovered, and his warm gaze hit Asami like a wave, as she anticipated the piteous line of conversation that would happen next, "I'm so sorry to hear about your wedding Asami, that's rough."

"It's okay really," she hitched her eyes with Korra's before she knew it, "It was for the best."

Korra mouthed cool it, before snapping her spine to attention when her father gave her the once over.

"And you've been running off playing super hero I hear." the tension melted when Tonraq hugged his daughter again, his warmth and love rolling off him as he swayed her gently, pooling and weighing down on Korra's shoulders, "Being such a good friend and saving those kids."

"Who told?" Korra wheezed tapping out, but her father selfishly holding on for as long as he could.

"We get the news out here in the sticks." Tonraq ruffled her bob, and Senna reminded.

"Also Kya and Kana are still our very dear friends."

Korra gulped, knowing Kya would never out her, but still it wouldn't take much to put two and two together, particularly if the older woman had regaled her parents with the many sleepovers the girls had had at her house.

"Okay dad, pot's boiling over."

"Korra! That was your one job!" Asami chided playfully.

Slowly Korra eased back into her old home, and despite appearances relished in her girlfriend being there. It was as though sharing this part of her life with her made it seem more complete, even if they couldn't yet hold hands.

The minutes rolled on, and Korra was riddled with tension, juggling her lies, her secrets, and thankfully all the while Asami never pushed. Korra half expected an encouraging now is the time look. Dutifully she kept her hands to herself, and even managed to curb longing loving gazes her way as she chatted and caught up with Korra's parents as though they were old friends.

In a way they were, when Korra had her first accident, they'd shared an entire relationship when Korra was barely conscious, they were the three shadows ushering her back into the world, given flesh and a deeper kind of meaning.

It almost felt good and normal sitting at dinner the four of them. It wasn't until the last mouthfuls were being dealt with did Senna ask the dreaded question.

"So before the disaster - how was the island? Has it changed much Korra?"

The ice sculptor felt a lump in her throat but thankfully the heiress answered.

"When I was finished having my breakdown it was quite wonderful," Asami laughed, her fingers subtly twining through Korra's under the table, balancing on her thigh. "The honeymoon suite was a disaster, a failed reminder of all things Iroh,"

"He who must not be named." Tonraq made an understanding tut and waited for Asami to continue.

"Korra saved me, she had the whole thing drawn and quartered with the staff,"

"I had to after you threatened that twelve year old!"

"That twelve year old had it coming," Asami seethed, earning a laugh from Korra's parents, "But Korra handled it, getting us separate beds, but it couldn't happen right away they were fully booked so we stayed at Kya's the first night," she felt Korra give a warning squeeze, and she carefully omitted the dangerous information in her mind between each bullet point.

Where Korra got asked out by an insufferable waitress, we slept in each others arms for the first time, we had a couples massage,

"We went scuba diving and ate poi on the beach,"

I thought about your daughter in the shower and kissed her neck while I was half asleep

"Hiked up the mountain before it became a volcano,"

We had our first kiss in a secret love cave, before she fucked me in the honeymoon suite,

"and again in the morning,"

Our friends turned up for moral support…wait something is off.

"You hiked up the volcano twice? Korra you really faced your fear." Tonraq sounded impressed.

Crap! I said the quiet part out loud, and the loud part in my quiet!

"No! Wait what I meant to say was, in the morning, our friends Opal and Bolin came for moral support and…" right then all Asami could think of was a litany of filthy memories; Korra's lips on her skin; her fingers inside her; writhing against each other in a cramped and cosy pantry, in the shack, in her bed last night.

"We saw a play!" Korra lied seeing Asami was in trouble.

"Oh the Ember Island players? I just adore them! How was it? What was the production?" Senna gushed eagerly, to which Korra's face cracked.

Now I have to lie about a play I didn't see because I was off having gay sex with my jilted bride breast friend…Did I just say breast? Get it together!

"I forget…it wasn't good."

"Oh," Senna balked, "How disappointing,"

"Then we had a party, Korra surfed with the kids, the volcano happened the end!" Asami finished in a rush, schooling her features as best she could, even though the cadence of her voice had risen with each word and she could see Tonraq and Senna visibly leaning back.

"How awful it had to end like that," Senna recovered finally, "I hope it wasn't too stressful."

Now the memories that buffeted the heiress were terrible ones, searching for Korra in the smoke from above, cradling her limp bloody body until they arrived at the hospital, washing her solemnly, kissing her weeping. She couldn't find the words to lie, and the truth gave away so much, so Asami attempted to nod only it came out as shaking her head.

The last thing she expected in that moment was Korra's hand gracing her cheek.

"Asami was there for me. She got me through it. After the surgery…and before."

"They allowed her to stay with you this time?" Tonraq inspected the girl, nothing but awe in his expression as internally, he wrestled with the notion that thousands of miles away, without his knowledge or presence, his little girl almost died.

"I wasn't sure they would," Asami began and was unable to stop herself when she added, "She was badly hurt, I couldn't let them keep her from me." She felt the tears falling from her eye without her expression changing. She was looking at Korra now, hand crushing hers tight, lost in the memories.

Telling your daughter I'm in love with her for the first time.

Her inner monologue could easily be found in her thousand yard stare, and Korra couldn't help but be moved. She raised their clasped hands to the table top and without looking away explained.

"Asami told them we were married." the heiress sucked in a breath as though a valve had been twisted.

"Oh honey," Senna stood and cupped the heiress head to her stomach stroking her hair, "I'm sure they would've let you in," she managed. Overwhelmed with the kindness she was receiving, and trauma that came rushing back, Asami sobbed, weeping breaths that she just couldn't seem to catch. "You're so kind to let yourself be seen that way for my Korra,"

"That way?"

"You know what I mean. Someone you're not." Senna clarified and Asami couldn't help but squeeze Korra's hand tighter, sure of the daggers her mother was delivering to her daughter with her words.

Korra had put a toe out of the closet, and immediately had it slammed on her face.

"You did everything you could, you both did," Tonraq had come around and placed his weighty hand on his daughter's shoulder, "The important thing is you're both okay, and we can put this all behind us."

It was sound advice for someone who knew what he was talking about. But Tonraq had no idea, and Asami could see it was breaking her.

"I-" Korra stood, all eyes flying to her, "I need to go outside,"

There was a pause, a plethora of thoughts and suspicions flitting through the air between the time she announced it, and acted upon it.

Asami was still reeling, wiping the wetness that insisted upon leaking from her face, berating herself for breaking at the crucible moment, and ruining Korra's chance when two sets of parental arms enveloped her and she was left gasping as once again her emotions flooded her unbearably.

As near as she could tell the pair were thanking her, grateful that Korra had had an angel to look out for her, that she was never alone when they couldn't be there. It was all too much to listen to in light of why they were there.

"I should go after her," Asami breathed, and they released her, giving her weepy encouraging smiles before she followed Korra out the open door, forgetting to close it in her haste, and searching for Korra in a courtyard of snowed over bushes, surrounded by dusted fir trees that towered over them. Asami couldn't see her right away, so she followed fresh prints in the snow around the house until she spotted her, pensive and brooding at the edge of the forest. Looking in, arms folded and jaw tight, seemingly ignorant of the golf-ball sized snow balls drifting down and painting the scene.

The way she was standing, and the expression on her face, Asami could see that if Korra was a smoker, she'd be taking a long grounding drag. "I just like being outside," Korra would say, back when Asami's rebellious teenage phase included smoking roll ups, and the bars started to exclude those who partook, "and the company," she would tack on gingerly, standing whatever the weather next to her best friend, pretending not to love her.

The heiress stepped through the memory, and the passage of time swathing over her as she marched.

When Asami was close enough, she began to apologise.

"I'm sorry I know what you were trying to do but I just couldn't stop thinking of you bleeding and limp and I-" Korra turned to watch her girlfriend shivering in the snow, breath crystallising as she hung back to gave her space. Distraught and worried out of her mind, and the sight of it melted her. She meant to only hug her, to admonish her for following her into the snow that she clearly could not handle it. But instead, stepping forward, she hooked her hands behind her head and kissed her quiet.

Part of her knew this was a mistake to be this open, but another part of her, the part that felt safe whenever and wherever Asami was around, wanted to share that safety and thank her for coming all this way. She surmised that was what it meant to be in love, but couldn't say so, her lips were decidedly busy.

Asami tasted the tears on her lips, unsure of just whose they were, raising her hand to Korra's and thumbing her knuckles as the kiss became gentle and soothing. The perfect antidote to the torrent of pain that had been inflicted.

"I'm glad you're here," Korra whispered parting, giving her her best weak smile. "Even if it means you'll be seen that way,"

"Korra-" Asami gripped her elbows, unable to keep from pressing her body into Korra's warm space.

"Is it really that hard to see?" her expression twisted, anger changing the course of the tears streaming down her face, "I mean look at us, it's pouring from us isn't it? They can't just see it because they don't want to see it-"

"I see you." Asami grabbed her hand, hating seeing her so tortured, wanted to say or do anything to make it right, "It took a long time but I see you. I love you." this time she cupped her cheek, rubbing at the streaks, bowing her head, kissing her softly and solemnly as though it were a sacred and precious thing. Korra's warm body reminded her of how cold it was, how the wind was slowly turning tears to ice and snowflakes were catching in her silk locks. Lips spongey and weak hearts thrumming loud. So loud that neither of them heard the crunch of footsteps behind them and they weren't able to pull apart in time to hide it.

Senna saw them, mouth agape, in her mind pieces of an ill fitting puzzle sliding into place.

"Mom," Korra managed, exposed, burning, body shaking as adrenaline filled her. Asami on the other hand, suddenly felt the chill pour into her, and without Korra's touch to warm her, began to shiver.

Her mother stood, bunching jackets in her hands as her mouth worked, and no sounds came

Oh fuck, oh fuck, this is happening, it's real she knows. Korra couldn't help but sweat in sub zero temperatures, why did I do that, how do I go back in?

Stung, she turned on her heel. About to leave without another word but Korra stopped her.

"Mom wait let's talk about this."

"This is none of my business." Senna snapped, she blinked away tears and looked up, at the space around Korra's head,

"How can you say that?" Korra's voice was tight, using anger to force through the anxiety throttling her.

"You've been away for so long," Senna bit her lip and shook her head in that where did I go wrong, kind of way. "I mean you never visit, but I suppose neither did we…"

"It's not about you." Korra insisted, interlocking her fingers in a lattice over her chest, defending her heart. "It's just me, it's who I am, who I've always been. Nothing's changed." her voice had an innocent cadence then, pleading as Korra lay the truth before her feet, begging her to tread carefully.

"I barely know my daughter any more, and clearly this is new, if the wedding is anything to go by," she dared a glare to the heiress who gave back with all she could, but was shrinking despite all her best efforts.

"Is that what Kana and Kya are to you? An idea? A goddamn thought experiment."

"You know what I meant."

"I don't. Maybe you don't know me because I've never felt safe enough to be open here, I mean dad run's the goddamn town and nothing has changed since the dark ages when we had to breed our way out of extinction."

"I'm not trying to pick a fight with you it's just… a shock."

"It shouldn't be," Korra took a breath, there was a smile on her lips that came with just looking at Asami, but it couldn't help but mar into a grimace when she turned her gaze to her mother.

"I'm gay Mom," Korra punctuated the silence with her formal coming out, eyes watering, jaw tight, head beginning to throb. With Asami beside her, it came out easier than she ever imagined, but it still didn't come easily, the rest of the words she knew she wanted to say getting caught. She took the victory with a block of salt, and felt a bleeding sensation in her brain as, despite her best efforts, she went against what her fight or fight reflexes were telling her.

The importance of the moment superseded the need for survival. The loaded words passing through her lips, drawing a line in her life when she never thought she'd get to hold the pen. "I never thought I'd get here…I never thought I'd get this lucky."

Every second of silence that followed felt like a punch, a beating in the snow as the flurry cantered around them and punctured skin.

Senna saw Asami's body inching closer to her daughter. Her free fingers soothing her forearm, though seemingly unaware of it herself. Senna pushed down her urge to tear her away, however irrational studied their posture anthropologically, how could two women share what a man and a woman could have, how could they conceive of it?

As Korra gazed lovingly at Asami, Senna inspected the evening in her head, and saw the way the pair had danced around each other. The knowing smiles, the brushing hands, the longing looks, all pointed in another direction when viewed through another lens.

Senna regarded her daughter's choice then, the objectively beautiful heiress who had different persona's depending on the publication. If you'd ask The Times, she was an affluent business woman, The Bugle a domineering titan of industry, or Korra you'd only ever hear her talk about how funny she was, how smart she was, how kind. Senna had seen first hand the fierce way Asami protected her best friend, she'd always known Korra would do the same. In her mind, Senna sought through the scandal that she'd only read about, the heiress turned jilted bride, and now this.

Nose turning red, body juddering as she held her conviction and stayed beside Korra, fingers, entangled with hers, turning blue.

"Why didn't…" Senna began, unsure of the questions she wanted to ask before it came out, "You feel safe?"

"Are you kidding? Aside from anticipating this reaction…I've heard people say it's wrong," Korra seemed to ease back, "The drunks in the bars sniffing out the fags and the homos, beating them into the ice. Word gets around here. It's like a witch hunt. It's what drove Kya out, and I always thought if I do the same I'm leaving you and dad to the stubborn wolves out there."

"What am I supposed to do?" Senna pleaded, honestly searching for a way forward and like that the tide turned. For so long the world had turned one way, things made sense, had structure, and now everything Senna had grown up learning was being brought into question.

Korra had lived in the same world, and from inside it found her way. Senna looked down at their clasped hands, and up at Asami. Korra knew from experience it was tough to accept, even just herself, but living it, wearing the clothes, walking the path, had eroded the pain she used to feel.

"Get used to it."

The words weren't an attack, but instructions, ones that Senna had never encountered before.

"I…need to get my head around this," despite the hot lava boiling in her stomach, Senna felt it was important to say. "All this, it comes from…wanting you to be safe."

"I know," Korra told her, inside calling to her, but for some reason she felt rooted in the ice, determined to finish this in one fell swoop.

"Shall we tell dad?"

"Tell me what?" He'd rounded the corner, hot teas in both hands, ready to talk out an entirely different problem.

"Dad…Asami and I, we're together,"

Tonraq's brain made calculations then, measuring the room, the evening and the young women in front of him and came to the only conclusion he could immediately fathom. The shining sharp blue eyes towered over them all, and they caught the way Korra was gripping Asami's hand right then. Travelling up, seeing his daughter tense and watch him carefully.

"Good one," he guffawed. "'You two are married!' Fooled the nurses, fooled me - amazing."

"Dad I'm not kidding."

"You had me going there, ladies, did you plan this?"

"Dad I'm gay,"

His smile froze on his face, and drooped to a neutral line.

"On the island it all came to a head. We've been together ever since." Korra spoke candidly, done struggling, handing herself over to whatever came next. Safety gripping her hand, and squeezing thrice.

For a long time nothing, and then.

"Are you sure?" Asked Tonraq finally, and the words are enough to send Korra rescinding into herself once again.

"As anything," Asami piped up, "Sir," she added for good measure.

"Is it serious?"

"Dad,"

"Korra you have to understand the pressures the tribe has, the traditions-"

"I've been understanding," Korra snapped, "I stayed away because I understood."

Tonraq stepped back, staring at her as though her eyes were glowing, ethereal with god like ferocity.

"I hated myself for it, because of how this place works. Even when we were all living in Republic City I felt it lording over me."

Senna mentally counted back until the day they met, the competitions, the years in high school. Asami had been engaged and Korra had gone through most of that love one sided, unrequited and utterly alone.

"You think so little of the place where you came from-" Tonraq seethed.

"Unalaq sent his kids to Republic city to gather evidence to out me. Because they know what the people here do with information like that." He was stunned to hear it, but the idea didn't surprise them. The wind picked up, and the flecks of ice in the air became sharper and stung on bare skin, particularly Asami's. The sound of it, tumultuous, left them no choice but to yell back and forth.

"I came home to tell you before they did."

"Why weren't you more careful?" Tonraq was a cornered wolf, snapping reactively reared up on his hind legs, bellowing into the wind.

"Why does it matter?" Korra defended, throwing it back in ways that Tonraq found difficult to predict. She'd felt caged by her fears for so long that when freedom was in sight, turned to righteous anger.

"Do you have any idea what Unalaq could do with this!"

Tonraq sucked in a breath, raising the teas only slightly, preparing his rebuttal, but his wife stopped him.

"Let's take a breather here," she bounced her eyes to each person in turn, warning them with a simple look, "before either of us says something we regret, and Asami freezes on our lawn. Tonraq den, girls when you're ready separate beds thank you, I didn't decorate that room for nothing."

Korra huffed, thoroughly at her emotional capacity. She wrapped her arm around Asami and ushered her inside. She could hear their fervent whispers fading as Senna cornered and calmed her husband. Yanking coats and blankets onto her in a hurry before dragging her, a little too roughly, up the stairs to her childhood bedroom

Asami tripped over a fallen jacket once inside, and Korra caught her.

"I'm sorry," she said, voice breaking, and then began the process of unwrapping her girlfriend and warming her skin with her own hands. Eventually she embraced her, only to find Asami had the upper hand, and was cradling her into her neck.

"The worst part is over," she told her, and it was then Korra realised her breaths were coming out in sobs. Korra felt numb and empty, and her legs started to give. Asami caught her, and guided her to the bed. She sat with her head in the crook of her neck. Her fingers fed into Korra's hair and her nails scritched her scalp soothingly. "You did it," she crooned approvingly, but Korra couldn't help but take it as an acceptance of blame. You did this, she thought, now comes the fallout.

Still the heiress held her quietly, shushing her and holding her and kissing her forehead.

Korra leaned back and swiped at her face roughly, Asami caught her hands and made a gentler job of palming away the tears. Eventually she fell back into her arms, and they hugged in that perched twisted way on the edge of the mattress.

"I'd ask you to get in bed right now so I can hold you but your mom kind of terrifies me." Asami gave her a watery smile and Korra let out a surprised laugh. The heiress started to pull away, and Korra asked.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't want to be on Senna's bad side, she already must despise me for turning you gay, I don't want to rub her nose in it when she walks in on us cuddled in bed."

"But-"

"No buts, the hard part is over," Asami turned to catch Korra's cheek as she rose to stop her, "and I will sneak back in when the coast is clear," she vowed with a peck on the lips.

When she turned to leave, she found they were once again caught. Tonraq had spied them from the door way, locked behind the threshold.

"I was just kidding…" she trailed off, blushing looking down.

"It's okay Asami," Tonraq took that first step, and Asami sat back down beside Korra. "May I sit down?"

Korra watched him curiously, and after a beat nodded. His weight raised them slightly as the bed countered and they sat in an odd triage. They both spoke.

"I'm sorry I yelled-" Korra began.

"It's just-" Tonraq stopped, and waited for his queue.

"You go." Korra said.

"I don't want life to be hard for you. It's hard enough being a part of this tribe, here, out in the world. Now you want to add something else to that?"

"It's not like this is my choice." Korra defended. "It's who I am and I'm still the same person, I just… I love her. I brought her here so you could see that."

"I'm not saying - Asami you're a wonderful girl but she can't give you the safety that-"

"A man can? Really? More than someone who loves me or even just being a person by myself - a man?" Tonraq recoiled at the onslaught and waited until his daughter un-bristled at the notion, before posing his next rebuttal.

"A simple family can, yes, there's a safety in that, in appearing normal," He struggled to find the words, unlike him given his career, but for the first time he was entirely out of his depth. He waved at the two of them, edging closer together despite it all and added. "This wasn't what I'd imagined for you."

"What did you expect?" Korra asked, doing her best to keep contempt for the question out of her voice.

"Same things all fathers do, safety, security, walk you down the aisle, grandchildren, a happy healthy life."

"This is me telling you who I feel safe with. She is who I've chosen because all of these things that are my choices to make, whether or not I choose them. It is all still possible."

"I don't want my daughter to be cut off from her home for the rest of her days." Tonraq looked at her with real anguish in his eyes, lost in the world outside of his own. It was then he looked, really looked at Asami, whom had Korra's hand clasped between both of her own.

"My choices aren't being in love or having a family." Korra admitted in a breath, squeezing Asami's fingers between her own, "I need you both…I'm not telling you this to excuse myself from this place, I'm telling you this because I need to be honest with it. I need to feel like I'm home again."

A lot of things were apparent to Tonraq then, as the glaciers, seemingly far apart and perpendicular, slotted together to create a mind that was clear crystal. The shattered pieces of his daughter's image coming together, her trauma, her dimpled crooked smile, her childhood and finally whom she had chosen, became the guiding lights for what mattered. As any good civil servant would, he began to set out an itinerary in his mind.

"Thank you for speaking with me." he excused himself with an air of professionalism.

"Dad?"

"It's okay," for the first time he smiled at her, however small it was, Korra counted it, "Asami, if you would." he got up, and beckoned out the hallway.

Asami took a risk and gave in to the urge to kiss her, planting her lips on her forehead, and tucking her hair behind her ears soothingly.

"Goodnight baby," she whispered to her, so quiet she wasn't sure she heard it.

It only occurred to Korra after her father and girlfriend left her cross legged on her twin bed that they were about to have the talk.

The way Asami was looking back at her, it was clear she knew too, and mouthed it's okay, before letting the door shut.

She should get up, Korra thought, and defend her girlfriend from her father, but the events that had just occurred had emotionally drained her, and had now put a hand on her chest and shoved her onto her bed where she melted.

Asami stood between Tonraq and Korra's closed door, a guard, clenching her fists waiting for him to say his piece so she could go back inside into the warmth. She braved a glance into his stoic eyes, the shining blues so familiar and so different at the same time.

"Care for a drink?" The question surprised her, but Tonraq merely turned away and led her to his study. He kept the door open, and she watched as he opened a globe, took out two glasses and poured rich brown whiskey into each of them. He held the smaller tumbler out to Asami who took it in her hand, twirling it instinctively, having mastered the art of boardroom nosing, before taking sip. She closed her eyes as she admired the way the liquid warmed its way down her chest.

When she opened them again, Tonraq was watching her carefully.

"What must you think of us," after a while he found his words, wistful and contrite, taking a seat on an armchair, deep, burgundy and leather. Adjacent to the window it seemed built for brooding and melancholy. A photo of Korra could be stared at from it, mid throw in an MMA contest. A proud snap of his wilful and fierce daughter in action.

"Korra knew it would be hard, for most people it is,"

"What do you think?" Tonraq insisted.

"I think you care too much of what others think, I mean I know its your job and this place…but she's Korra. How can you not adore everything she does?"

"How did you react when you found out how she felt about you?"

Asami bit her lip, holding back the truth, but stumbling in the process.

"I kissed her." Tonraq's eyes widened, and to she swore she even spied the ghost of a smile on his lips. "I knew by then that I loved her too. Even though she wouldn't let me say it."

"That must be quite a story." he mused. The heiress blushed, habitually scooping her own hair behind her ears. "Considering where it all started, at your wedding."

Asami tightened her grip on her own elbow and the glass. She averted her eyes, she couldn't help it, that stung. She took a larger swig this time, letting the burn distract her from the hard questions she would pose next.

"Is this the part where you tell me to stay away from your daughter?" she dared look back at him, heart in her throat as she added, "That I'm no good for her?"

"Of course we know you're a perfectly wonderful young woman Asami, and you've been there for Korra, oh so many more times than I can count, but your choices confuse me…A man one day and…Korra the next, it's bizarre."

"I can sense there's a question you're trying to ask me."

"If Korra's about to put herself in the line of fire for you and the sake of this, how do I know it's not a phase for you? That she won't one day be out in the cold, alone, because you broke her heart."

Asami lowered the drink in her hand, and flicked at the glass with her finger as she listened. He was a father, worried for his daughter, she could hear in his voice that coming out to him, wouldn't be the hardest part of Korra's new open life.

He sat back in his chair, perching elbows on armrests, knotting his fingers over his lips as his eyes narrowed tacitly.

"If she's out alone in the cold, it wouldn't be because I left her there," she surmised, unable to reel herself in after his jab. She knew she should be trying to impress him, but the heiress has had enough, "She should be able to be herself without me, and feel loved and safe but it's this place," she looked back at him, in awe of her, swiping tears from her cheek with her wrist, liquor on her lips and words tumbling easily. "All this time she's been out in the cold, holding her breath, waiting for someone to accept her - and we missed it."

Tonraq's eyes softened at the bleeding heart in front of her.

"She almost died without us knowing." Asami went on, voice breaking, "This thing between us is so real," her throat tightened, "It's my biggest regret in life not seeing it sooner."

Tonraq stood and tugged her into his chest, where Asami simply leaned forehead first, both hands balancing the glass between them.

"I wish I could have kept her safe from all this." Tonraq mused, "No father should let his daughter feel unsafe."

"There's still time," the heiress stepped back, "If anyone can its you,"

"I think you're giving me too much credit as a politician."

"I'm serious, nothing ever changes here. No one's ever tried to be different. Shouldn't they get the chance to? Especially if it comes from an honest place?" she cocked her head and watched him mull and brood.

She handed him her glass and gave the give me a minute raising of her index finger. She left him standing for all of thirty seconds, before rushing back with an envelope in her hand, and inside it the photo.

Asami kissing Korra's cheek on a beach on Ember Island, and Korra smiling. Really, actually, genuinely smiling. When Tonraq held it he fell back onto his seat.

"Wow," he couldn't help but say it, recounting the years, unable to place when Korra had grinned like this. Tears in her eyes, full even smile, killer dimples, and so at peace. So in love.

It was just past midnight when the heiress snuck out of her own room, and made the daring entry into the girl next door's, blocking the handle with the desk chair and praying the old disused thing would hold. Whatever happened next could wait until morning, tonight Korra was out, and safe, so naturally some celebration was in order.

After locking them in, the Carmaker turned to find her girlfriend, sat up, cross legged swiping at her own tears in the dark. Chest fluttering as her breath escaped her, and sobs came through unfettered and without an end in sight. Korra tried to muster a witty retort, or self deprecating joke, but in the face of it could only tuck her head into the crook of her arms and knees, hide her face in the solitary she created.

Asami reacted without thinking, kneeling on the bed and feeding her arms around her chest, capturing her lungs and soothing them, rocking her back onto the mattress until she stretched out against her. She pulled apart the hands that covered her face and cupped the nape of her neck, guiding her eyes into the crook of her own.

It had taken a while to hit her, but in her solitude Korra had just about overanalysed every word that had been said, her father had wanted her to be normal, her mother wanted her to have a man. All Korra ever truly wanted was Asami, the woman in front of her now, comforting her, crooning over her as she wept. It should have been a victory, but it felt like she'd betrayed her parents, a pain she felt acutely in her wake.

"It's okay, you're okay," Asami told her, "I've got you,"

Korra gripped her tighter, but her sobs began to taper as she sniffed and settled, the heiress playing with her hair.

"I feel so selfish," she uttered, palming her face in an effort to stop the tears from soaking Asami's shoulder. "I should have just kept my ideas and my feelings to myself and everyone would be happy."

"You wouldn't," Asami told her matter of factly, "I wouldn't." she added, fingers gentle tracing patterns onto her skin as her eyes leaked and her own hands held on to Asami's shirt. It was so simple, but it was grounding and Korra could feel her panic and anger dissipating as she replayed the havoc she'd wreaked in her mind. "They needed to hear it, they needed to know how kind, and strong and loving you are…they don't know you like I do…you're perfect,"

Korra tangled their fingers then, kissing Asami's palm in solemnity and solidarity.

"At least they didn't kick me out," she offered, mining for a positive in all that had happened.

"They love you Korra, your dad made that quite clear."

"How did it go?" Korra whispered.

"With Tonraq? He loves me, I told you it'd be okay, it was a breeze," Asami shrugged, eyes flicking away from her girlfriend.

"Overly confident, gives me pause," Korra surmised.

"He grilled me and I cried okay? Is that what you want to hear?"

"What did he say?"

"He asked me if this was a just phase for me."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth," Asami's fingers were tangling with Korra's hair, playing with it and watching her eyes flicker knowing how it soothed her. Korra watched her carefully, eyes void of the worry that question might have had on the island. She knew how Asami felt, and was overwhelmed by just how secure that feeling was.

"Okay," she whispered. Korra tucked herself securely into her arms, ear balanced over the rise and fall of her exquisite chest, thoroughly soothed and finally at ease.

They stayed that way for a while, listening the southern winds howl outside, silently seeking safety in the arms of another woman.

Asami took the opportunity to inspect Korra's childhood bedroom, a time capsule of the years before her family had moved to Republic City while Tonraq honed his craft as a lawyer.

It was odd to see Korra's formative years laid out in front of her, to Asami a lot of what encompassed Korra was how she was realised in her life ready made; a fierce competitor to be won over and an even fiercer friend. The heiress had never thought of Korra as a child whom had enjoyed colouring in. The painted sigils of polar bear dogs around the trim had little stick figures tacked on in crayon where young Korra imagined herself riding them.

Criss crossed notches in the door frame charted her growth pausing at around age twelve and skipping to age eighteen, when Korra had visited, after having moved out to study Ice Sculpting.

"Do you remember walking me home from school?"

"Hmm," Korra hummed, eyes closed, rousing from her languor that came from being cradled.

"You used to walk forty minutes out of the way to make sure I got home."

"Hmm," despite her casual cadence, Korra's ears were howling red, "It might come as a shock to you but I had quite a crush on you back then,"

"I was so stupid." Asami muttered.

Korra popped open one eye to look up at her and said smiling,

"Yes, you were."

"I came to my senses," she huffed, shivering, "Can we please get under the covers?"

Korra smiled at her, blushing as the sounds of her hands meeting skin shuffled loudly in comparison to the silence. Asami was insistent, her hands pawing at Korra's muscular back while her legs slotted perfectly between her own.

"God your feet are cold!"

"My everything is cold! I was standing for like an hour in like no clothes in the frigging Yukon!"

"I can get another blanket?" Korra offered.

Asami wriggled against her, the bare skin all encompassing to Korra. It was the first time in a long time, she felt Korra go tense beneath her hands.

Carefully, Asami tucked her face into her neck and placed a kiss there, chaste and sweet, before readying her self to settle in for a long cold night snuggled against her.

Only then Asami's lips were drawn to tasting her pulse, unable to draw away from the taste and scent of Korra's body. The heiress found herself pulled into her orbit and the heat it incited, a thousand times more effective than blankets or feet. Korra placed a warning hand on her elbow, only the other slipped seamlessly into her silk locks at the back of her head.

"Asami," she warned weakly, as long icy fingers tugged and gently lifted her shirt so her nails could scrape twitching abs. Asami kissed her throat again, only Korra couldn't help but have her breath snatched away. Her being cold only intensified every point of contact, her cold thigh between her own, rising and pushing into that spot. Her icy hand gracing the nape of her neck, drawing over the muscles there.

Part of Korra fretted over the hickey she was leaving, the other parts of her started planning marks and bites of her own.

"We shouldn't…" she trailed off, arousal pooling in her stomach at the sensation of Asami's skilled tongue.

Asami's mouth playing on the direct line to Korra's libido. Korra couldn't help the way it made her eyes roll back and entire body thrum with electricity.

Asami's lips unlatched finally, nose to nose, lips ghosting over hers.

"Korra," she whispered again, breath heaving, mind reeling, her voice dark and intense.

This was where Asami should see reason, Korra thought, this was dangerous enough as is, and the heiress had built an empire from that level headedness and logic.

"Fuck me," her voice raw with need, and Korra kissed her, hard, intensely relieved that Asami had lost her fucking mind. The hand already on her chest, rode up, before sliding over her breast, thumb caressing its peak under her shirt.

Asami mounted her and sat back, pulling Korra up with her. The heiress combed her fingers through her hair as the fervency built, Korra pulling down her vest to cup and suckle her pert pink nipple.

Asami moaned, forgetting momentarily that this wasn't supposed to be happening. Tasting tears on her lips. In response Korra leaned up and kissed her quiet, until she became distracted, by her cheek, her jaw, her neck. Throwing her head back, hips fluttering instinctively, Asami raised her arms so her shirt could be taken off, before tugging Korra's above her head.

"Fuck me," the heiress insisted again, more for the love of saying it aloud, planting her lips firmly on Korra's and pushing her back onto the bed. Korra's hand dipped between them, slipping past the hem of plaid pyjamas, finding no trouble the source of slick wetness between her legs. Thumb finding clit and fingers sliding easily past her entrance. Pumping up, deep, hard and slow, Asami's hips matching the rhythm.

Asami keened, mouth parting from hers momentarily before pressing her face into the pillow to absorb the moans she couldn't stifle. Korra kept up with her rutting hips, coaxing her on, faster harder, as Asami's hands found purchase on Korra's breast and between her legs, uncoordinated at first, until she raised her self, and it became a race to finish the other.

Asami succumbed first, bowing forward, mouth open in silent ecstasy. Her body wracking with pleasure, as her fingers swiped insistently over Korra's clit, pushing her over the edge. Korra arched her back, biting her lip, her body detonating and fusing with Asami's all at once.

She'd never felt so close to her, her wetness pooling between her fingers, her lips pressed tightly over her own. As she listened to her catch her breath, and felt her body melting into hers in the dark, she'd never felt more sure that all was right in the world.

"Are you warm now?" Korra asked, breathless.

Asami couldn't stifle her laugh, even as she kissed her.

Korra woke first, Asami's back tucked securely into her front, her hand clutching the arm Korra had fed around her stomach. Their roles had switched four or five times in the night, a fitful sleep seeking comfort and warmth that neither was really used to, but gave their best efforts in reciprocating.

Korra raised herself to look down on her sleeping face, or rather, the top half of it, Asami had pulled the quilt up to her nose, but her eyes though closed gave off so much adorable expression.

Korra had never been brave enough to tell her girlhood crush how she felt, and til now, never had anyone worthy of sneaking in to her childhood bedroom in the dead of night. The weight of the world now gone from her, she now felt light enough to act like that rebellious teenager.

Tentatively she placed the lips on the nape of her neck, rousing her gently, kissing a path from along her jaw until the heiress turned into her, lying on her back.

"Morning," she mumbled without opening her eyes, she did however place a guiding hand on Korra's cheek, aiming her kisses lower on her throat. "Why's it morning?" She added groggily, turning fully until she'd tucked her eyes into Korra's neck and hooked her leg atop hers.

"You have to sneak back," it pained Korra to say it, but breakfast was looming, the cold light of day filling the room.

"They know we're together," Asami whined half heartedly, "Why can't we stay, just stay sleeping, is why you came out," she insisted, "so we could sleep together and they say 'hey that's not gals being pals' that's," she yawned, brows creasing, eyes watering and finished, "natural," she huffed, satisfied with her nonsensical answer before settling back into Korra's arms.

Korra's heart broke a little at the thought of kicking her delirious sleep deprived girlfriend out into the cold, but logic and the fear that spurred her tugged the words out of her mouth.

"You remember how they haven't kicked us out yet?"

Asami grunted, message received and understood, but that didn't stop her from pouting and yawning every step of the way as she rubbed her eyes and yanked on her shirt.

"I love you," she mumbled, kissing Korra's forehead autonomously, before undoing her make-shift chair lock on the door.

She received a rude awakening when she walked right into Senna, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Snapping out of her languor, she mentally checked if Korra's mother had spotted her leaving Korra's room.

"Asami! Your shirt's on backwards," the tone of her voice seemed to indicate she was none the wiser as to why, still Asami kept her mouth shut and eyes wide, "Tonraq has an announcement to make, wake up Korra, get her dressed,"

"I will do that," Asami responded trying not to show just how relieved she was she hadn't been caught. "Is it an announcement if it's to three people?" she wondered aloud, filter still very much eroded due to lack of sleep.

"To the town, sweetie, he's the mayor." Senna patted her tired cheek, expression unreadable, but small stature invigorated with vim and vigour.

"Oh." She turned on her heel, doing her best impression of someone who had never set foot in Korra's bedroom before, much less steamed up the windows. She even knocked and waited for Korra to respond.

It was one confusion after another for the Ice Sculptor, that Asami had returned so quickly and her father had made her a messenger. It filled her with anxiety, and something she never thought she'd feel in a place like this - hope.

Tonraq called a press conference early on Monday morning, an hour before his brothers. Even in the early hours half the town were already filling the room in droves, donned in furs, plaids, and open ears.

Ginger sat up front, recording device aloft, muttering testing, testing 1,2,3, over and over.

In the back, skulked Desna and Eska. Asami's eyes honed in on them right away, and spied the man lording over them, equally tall but no way near as broad, stood Unalaq, looking sallow and almost sickly compared to his brother. Desna made the mistake of making eye contact with her, she back sharply glared at him, making him flinch.

"What did you do to him?" Senna asked. They were at the door of the Mayors chambers, looking out over the press pit before the main show.

"Enough," Asami replied cooly, keeping her gaze fixed on Korra's cousins, willing them to stay put. She missed Senna looking thoroughly impressed with her in her vigilance.

Thus far the girls hadn't been informed what Tonraq was about to do. Korra sat back on the couch in the office, reclined back one minute, and hunched forward the next.

"Mom seriously, what is going on?"

"Honey you'll have to ask your father, he started working on it last night and all I know is it's important enough to warrant this."

"Do you think it's about…me?"

"Oh hon, I have no doubt."

Korra sank back into the couch and wiped her face groaning.

"Oh god he's going to exile me in front of the whole town."

"I'm sure he wont," Asami sat beside her, taking her hand, before whispering, "but Senna, should I get the jet ready?"

Senna opened her mouth to speak only her husband appeared, signing papers pushed at him before his flock of assistants scattered, their missions clear.

"Dad, what's happening?" Korra asked, standing almost blocking his way.

"All will be revealed soon," he gingerly put his hands on her elbows and squeezed her gently.

"Are you going to out me to the whole town? Just like that?"

He took a deep breath, gripping her arms, before telling her.

"I would never say anything to them that would harm you." His face had a twist of sincerity, that Korra, considering recent events, had trouble digesting.

"I don't care what they think." Korra told him, "I'm not about to have you lose everything because of-"

"Who you are?" his response surprised her, not because of what he said, but the fact that he said it with wisdom and understanding of what it meant. "You've sacrificed a lot to be here," his eyes flicked up, meeting Asami's, "Now it's my turn."

He turned with an air of finality, and when he neared the door frame, Korra's heart reached up and opened her mouth.

"Dad wait,"

He did.

The smallest part of Korra, the scared lonely little girl, asked the question she dreaded the answer to. "Do you and Mom…do you guys think, after all this… you can still love me?"

The answer came in a swift hug, Tonraq turning on his heel to tug his daughter into his embrace.

"Of course we love you…not matter what." Korra gripped his shirt tight despite herself, finally open, finally able to express it. Asami couldn't help but tear up seeing her girlfriend's whole aura shift and brighten.

Korra felt strange in the parting, as though pieces of her self had been shuffled around in a new design.

"I love you too," she managed, as he stepped away, arm extended, squeezing the tips of her fingers. When he was gone, Senna caught her and held her daughter tight, and while her father exchanged pleasantries with the crowd outside, Korra felt acceptance swathe through her being.

"Good morning everyone, thank you for coming to this urgent press conference." Tonraq folded his hands together on the desk and looked out over his people, "Harbour town has been a blessing to me, and mine, and you and yours, or so the saying goes, and how I wish I could stop there…This town is made to purpose, for people not unlike yourself, people you eat with, fish with, wave to at the store."

It was then Korra, Asami and Senna, stepped through the doorway, joining the lineup of mayoral staff on the wings of the press conference. Asami kept her hands folded in front of her, and Korra's stuffed in her pockets.

"What it isn't made for is change. We hold traditions older than some countries, can trace our lineage back to thousands of years despite being set upon by evil forces time and time again and we are proud to still call ourselves a Tribe. We forget in all this, upholding, and reciting and vigilance, is that change is necessary, the seasons change, the era's differ decade to decade. It is in these differences that we will find our future."

He tapered off, the crowd silent aside from a few camera clicks.

"In light of this, I have an announcement to make to you all. My daughter is in love."

A surprised chuckle lit up the audience, and a spattering of applause followed.

"My little girl is all grown up," Tonraq smiled at her then, but she was frozen in fear, heart racing. Asami wanted nothing more to take her hand, to spirit her away, but couldn't, knowing they were too exposed. She was so caught up however, she didn't notice the security slowly placing themselves between the Mayor's daughter and the crowd. "I found out yesterday, but it's been going on quite a while. Only she never told me because she was afraid."

The crowd erupted in 'aw's, Korra's body twisted with tension.

"She was afraid because she is in love with a woman." the room plummeted into silence, "As true and pure a love as I have ever seen," he added, voice gentle, eyes still on her soft and caring, "I have no interest in being a part of a tribe that doesn't accept her for exactly who she is."

Korra was rooted to the spot as the eyes bore into her, breath heaving, both hands clasped between Asami's and her mother's, the trio in complete and utter shock.

"Which is why I have passed a law that no citizen of Harbour Town can be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation, whether in their careers, their homes, their well being, or indeed, their marriage," He held up a document for the room to see and photograph, ink fresh and shining into the crowd, "And while I am in office, the midsummer solstice, marks the start of a new tradition in Harbour Town, one we sorely need."

The projection behind him hosting the town's emblem showed the picture Asami had shown him the night before. Korra smiling, while she kissed her cheek.

"Pride week,"

The press erupted with a thousand questions and queries all at once. Tonraq had anticipated this, unbuttoning his suit and sitting back, pointing fielding questions like an old pro.

Korra couldn't hear him, a bomb had gone off between her ears, and she had begun sliding down the wall only to have Asami hold her arm, cup her cheek, lips moving that Korra couldn't hear.

"Korra, Korra?"

She was overwhelmed with it all, the noise, the body heat in the room, the clashing of her two worlds, her mother and her lover worrying over her, but all the while inexplicably, her lips found her smile.

"This is a good thing," she whispered, surging to her feet, indeed still panicking. She did the unthinkable, cupping Asami's cheek and daring to kiss her, triumphant. This time when camera's snapped them, they stayed together, lips only parting as giddiness pulled their grins too tight.

There was some applause, but mostly voices clamouring to be heard. They felt a tug back into the Mayoral Chambers, and Tonraq was not far behind them, waving and beaming to the crowd.

"How did I do? Oof-" Korra hugged him tight around the middle, winding him before he had the chance to hold her back.

When Korra stepped back she swiped at her eyes, unable to stop smiling, or let go of Asami's hand once she'd grabbed it.

"What made you do a complete one-eighty like that?" she asked equally incredulous as she was overjoyed.

"I had some help," Tonraq told her, his wife taking his hand, the other reaching into his jacket. Tonraq pulled out the photo Asami had shown him, and offered it back to her. "We have never seen you look like that… all this time I thought you were safe here and, this, this look on your face here, it made me see that I was failing,"

Tonraq placed his hands on her shoulders, gaze sure and true, "You've opened my eyes. Now I've opened theirs."

He patted her, before opening his wings and tucking his three girls into his chest in a single swoop.

"Now you know you can get married at home - and start giving us those adopted grand babies,"

"Oh my god - mom,"


	25. Chapter 25

There were things about Harbour Town that Asami still didn't quite understand. It's proclivity for intrusive, gossip, gotcha style journalism. The avid spiritualism, in a town where industry, fishing and oil drilling was king. The fact most houses, including Korra's parent's had balconies despite year round snows and icy winds.

Korra's own ability to withstand hours on end in a freezer, however, was starting to make a little more sense. Leaning against a column perched precariously on its edge, arms keeping her knees tucked around her chest as she watched the lights of the people's of Harbour town flicker and change from her vantage point.

"Hey you," Asami said, plume of breath crystallising in front of her lips. Since they hadn't been thrown out of Korra's parents after the dropping of their bomb; the heiress had claimed a fur throw from the living room. It wasted on the residents that would frequently wear no sleeves on a snowy day - she had no intention of taking it off. Gripping it with one hand, and fresh boiled tea in the other, she watched her girlfriend stare down at her hometown, stoic and still daring to hold her breath.

"What are you looking for?" she posed the question.

"Pitchforks…torches on the horizon, run of the mill run me out of town stuff." Korra finally turned, planting her feet on the inside of the balustrade. Her face changed upon seeing her, pressure in her chest lightening, despite her best efforts to remain morose and cynical.

Asami offered her the tea in her hands, having only made it for the sake of giving to her.

"What's this for?"

"I foolishly thought for a moment an ice princess, such of yourself, would be cold out here."

When Korra took it, the spark that passed between them still surprised her as their fingers brushed.

"Thanks, I'm sorry I shouldn't have left you alone with them but-"

"You were checking the perimeter after being outed to a largely conservative town, I get it man," Asami surmised, her tongue planted firmly in her cheek. Korra's lips pursed and smiled. "It's okay, I've been alone with your parents before."

"Not as my girlfriend. Isn't it-?"

"Intimidating? Oh yes, but your mom is really sweet and god your baby pictures are so cute, that belly," she made a pinching motion and it gave Korra the rare head to toe, entire body flush, "and your dad keeps giving me tea. Finally I had to say 'Tonraq, do you give Korra this much tea? Does she know that you already love me more than your own daughter? Do you think she could take it?"

"Shut up," Korra chuckled, Asami cupped her cheeks, catching her joy as it left her and lips pecking it back into her skin like a hummingbird. Korra caught her and kissed her back firmly.

"I do have bad news actually," she said with a lilt in her voice that kept Korra at ease, "Your parents want to take us out for dinner in town… ask me my intentions toward their daughter."

"What are your intentions?" Korra asked smiling, running her thumbs over the curve of her hips, languishing in this particular moment.

"I'm a gold digger, what else?" She watched Korra's aura blaze and sparkle as she made her laugh, her thumb caught the tears that slipped out. She decided she loved actively seeking Korra's joy, teasing it out of her, making her melt. Either she was getting good at it, or as Korra opened herself up it was getting easier to make her smile.

That smile faded a little when she realised.

"They want to go out tonight?"

"Your mom asked me to come get you."

Korra gulped.

"I'm going to need something stronger than tea,"

"Stop dragging your feet and ask me out for a drink after."

"You're crazy,"

"It's changing out there, what if you like it?"

"What if-?"

"I didn't take MMA for fifteen years to waste my time being afraid of people on the street."

"You saying if we get homophobic slurs we'll just high kick them in the throat?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Asami took her hand and led her inside, the suitcases having both been pulled into the guest room, owing to that the bed was bigger and Senna insisted if you're going to sneak in together it might as well be the one with matching quilt and curtains.

When Asami closed the door she dropped her blanket and peeled her shirt over her head. Korra's brain short circuited as she casually undressed in front of her; and like that she'd forgotten they were dating.

Through the eyes of someone younger, and invariably in much more pain than her current self, she took her in, comfortably partially nude inspecting her choices. Korra had kissed the navel Asami's hand drew across as she inspected her clothes, she'd slept with her head between the jut of her bare shoulder blades more than once, she'd even undressed her herself, but occasionally she'd revert back to the lesbian cliche she started as, and was overwhelmed by Asami all over again.

Goose pimples rose on Asami's arms, and with pale hands she rubbed at them as she searched for something appropriate, attractive, and above all, warm.

"Get over here," Asami urged without looking, and it took Korra a beat to figure out what she meant. When she stood behind her, the Carmaker reached for her hands and pulled them across her stomach, guiding Korra to stand flush against her back. "I wish I could wear you all the time,"

Korra could only smile and hold her tighter, basking in the glory of the woman in her arms, and the entirely unexpected journey that led her here.

"I love you," for once she caught her girlfriend off guard, usually quick to quip and joke and lighten the mood, Asami held it in her hands like a small bird, and whispered back.

"I love you too," she turned into her, and kissed her, sweet, nourishing, purely out of love of being kissed by Korra. Tempering the sparks that surged between them, Asami pulled back, gazing into her eyes, thinking of how thankful she was to be here, tongue tied and not quite brave enough to say it.

They were shocked out of their reverie by Senna knocking on the door.

"How you doing in there?"

"Fine! Senna, just picking outfits,"

"I can help-"

"No! It's okay, mom, we'll be out in a minute."

Korra huffed and reached around her girlfriend, pulling up a sweater from her own case and handing it to her.

"This is my warmest, and it was made for, well, here,"

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Korra looked down at the choice of vest top, sweat pants and ugg boots and back up at Asami, who looked at her skeptically.

"Go change Korra,"

Korra rolled her eyes and peeled her shirt over her head. She didn't miss the way Asami's eyes dropped and blinked, left eye first, the right after.

"Asami?"

"Hmm?" the heiress couldn't raise her gaze.

"Dinner with parents."

"Right,"

The restaurant Tonraq chose was a mere ten minute walk away, and in that time Korra felt her worlds, now completely collided, shifting and slotting peacefully, thus far, into each other.

Asami gripped the length of her arm with both her gloved hands, cheeks rosy, steps steady and purposeful. Determined not to slip and fall in front of Korra's parents, who lagged behind, and watched them lead the path.

"Mr Mayor!" Ginger was already waiting for them at the doors, "any comments for the Tribune?"

"I would've thought today's announcement would be scoop enough,"

"Korra then," Ginger rounded on her, but before Tonraq could defend her.

"What's your take?" Korra asked, and although Ginger had questioned her she was surprised by the response. "I don't mean your paper, I mean you."

"Off the record, coming out, in this town, you're either brave or insane," the reporter's eyes dropped to their clasped hands, and the meaningful looks strangers were giving them in the high street of the city, "I think I'm going to have to err on the side of brave,"

"And your paper?" Korra asked.

To answer Ginger pulled out todays copy and unfurled it, and the couple looked down on the embrace they'd shared after the announcement, Korra kissing Asami, and tasting victory on her lips.

Historic Day for Same Sex Couples.

The sub heading "As True and Pure a love as I've ever seen."

Asami skimmed the article and relived the day from another perspective, the hubbub of the town and the comments from its inhabitants. She had to hand it to Ginger, her neutrality was offset by interviewing the for and the against.

"It's about time somebody brought this Tribe into the 20th century, I know it's the 21st, but I'd settle for the 20th,"

"I hold no ill well toward my niece, I just wish she'd kept her sordid little life and egregious partner in the city where it belongs,"

Korra read one aloud, "Have you noticed all the bad weather we've been having since the homos came to town?"

"Can I have this?" the heiress asked.

"Sure," Ginger laughed, producing another, "if you sign this one for me,"

Korra didn't know what to make of her girlfriend autographing the paper, and Ginger taking it with a wink.

She stepped back to let them pass, before asking.

"Any comments from the CEO of Future Industries?"

"Nothing grand," Asami smiled at her girlfriend, "hoping to impress my girlfriend's parents just enough to make use of one or two of those new laws,"

"She's succeeding," Senna remarked.

"Wait, which law?" Korra balked as Asami smirked and led them inside.

What surprised Korra the most was that, after Ginger, no one said a word. With bolstered confidence she moved the hand she gripped from under the table, and slipped her fingers through Asami's between place settings. Partially to get a good look at what the townspeople would do, but mostly because she'd always wanted to.

She even inspected her parent's expressions, but couldn't derive more than their eyes catching their hands, and moving on, unaffected. She could hardly believe it.

Asami was charming, and making them all laugh and touching her leg, or her fingers or finding an excuse to run a thumb over her lips.

"Sugar," she'd explained, a wry smile upon her own lips. She's been waiting to do this, Korra thought, heart a flutter, she's killing it. She added watching how her parents expressions softened after witnessing the sweet moment between them.

As the night wore on Korra felt a new, unfamiliar feeling flow over her like a balm. It was only when her parents got up to settle the cheque (having won the right by out manoeuvring Asami) did she recognise it. I feel safe.

"That was good," Tonraq sounded relieved on his return, having been performing his own checks over the course of the evening. "You ready for a brisk walk home Sato?" he teased and it warmed her cheeks.

"Actually," Korra felt brave enough to utter the first word, but out of habit it faltered on the second, "I wanted to take Asami out for a drink…show her the town."

"Oh," her father bounced his eyes, Korra, her girlfriend, the patrons of the restaurant, "Of course," he added after a beat.

Tonraq stepped forward, and pulled the pair into his arms.

Senna rubbed his back and told them.

"You two have fun,"

The bar Korra chose was one that hosted all walks of life, The Glacier was a microcosm of the town and its reflection. Every face in the glass turned towards them as the howl of the winds announced their arrival. As oak snapped shut behind them, those faces turned back to their own drinks slowly, but the couple waited until no attention was on them, not for any other reason than they were caught off guard by it like deer in headlights.

Asami shook her head, which turned into a shudder driven by a cold pocket shaken loose in her borrowed clothes. Korra's expression still hadn't eased, her blue eyes turned narrow, sizing up the patrons on the first floor of the bar.

"Phase one complete," she nudged her hip with her own and Korra turned to gaze at her, once again light headed and lost as her two worlds collided quite unceremoniously. "I'd like to try a local delicacy, if you remember what that is…? So I can get to know this place better? Korra?" She cocked her head inquisitively and her girlfriend seemed to take a moment to understand, when it clicked a full five seconds later she began nodding.

The heiress' heart skipped at such an adorable sight kissed her temple habitually before parting and seeking an empty table. Korra swept another reconnaissance, and took measured steps as she watched the other patrons of the bar.

When she returned to her girlfriend she wasn't even sure what she got, her blood was pumping too loudly in her ears to know exactly what the barmaid was offering.

"You okay?" Asami took the glass from her shaking hand.

"No, yes, I don't know. This is a lot. Talk to me, distract me," Asami took her hand and placed it on the table between them.

"I can't believe you've never taken me here before," she looked around, immersed the history and culture, and matching it to what she knew from Korra. Blue and mahogany seemed to be a running theme of the town, but nothing here was as bright or deep as the colours Asami saw when looking at her girlfriend. The walls were covered top to bottom in photographs, a timeline going from monochromatic to a kaleidoscope of smiles, ceremonies and gatherings. The heiress couldn't help but look for Korra. She had to remind herself that even though she was born here, she was only ever here a fraction of the time as a child, and as an adult, even less.

"It set my teeth on edge," Korra shrugged, looking up at a moose head planted on the wall.

"This bar?"

"Feeling my feelings," Korra corrected, "the idea of bringing you home, to my parents, and it not being the way I wanted…and here,"

"Okay, don't spiral, it's okay." Asami's thumb stroked hers soothingly. She considered the ways she could convince Korra to sit with her on her tactically selected couch, and snuggle with mulled wine in front of a roaring fire. "It's beautiful here, is all I'm saying, and who knows? Beautiful setting, beautiful girl, forbidden love, might've sped things up."

Korra choked on her drink and squeaked.

"I still can't get used to you flirting with me,"

"You don't like it?" Asami's confidence wavered.

"I never said that,"

Asami pursed her lips, caught in her gaze, enthralled by it.

"You go," she dared her.

"Flirt with you?"

"Seduce me," the heiress insisted.

"You love playing with dynamite don't you?"

"I just don't enjoy holding back," Asami bit her lip, just a little, eyes dropping to her lips, Korra's doing the same. "Not anymore,"

The sculptor couldn't shake the feeling that she was caught in a limitless seven minutes in heaven, sharing a timid kiss with her crush while her elementary school watched in awe. In fact she was sure some of her old classmates were in this pub. She pulled away tense, eyes still closed, waiting for that disapproving voice in the crowd. Only all she heard was the earnest request from her girlfriend.

"Sit with me,"

Korra let the conflict she felt inside slip away as she did as she was told. Asami claimed the length of her arm and leaned her head on her shoulder, eyes closed while Korra remained watchful.

"Are you glad we did this?" Asami asked.

"It's been a while since I've been to this place, it hasn't changed, but also it has." Korra remarked.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know," Korra whispered, stroking her fingers along the inside of Asami's, "I'm paranoid a little, still, but, I'm lighter than I've been, and they accept me and it's honest…and you know what the best part is?"

"Something cheesy?"

Korra kissed the back of her hand.

"I have you,"

Best friend Asami would have berated her for that pungent, brie-level of cheese, only girlfriend Asami could only smile helplessly in response.

Her body tensed when the barmaid took a tray from the bar and started toward them.

"Here we go," Korra muttered, and Asami sat up a little straighter, still clutching her hand.

To their surprise she lowered the tray, and placed two more wines on the table.

"We didn't order these," Korra said.

"On the house," the girl pushed a flare of blue hair behind her ear after she placed them, eyes dancing from customer to customer, before shooting them both a warm grin, "for what you did,"

Stunned, the couple watched her walk back to her duties. Korra nosed the wine to make sure it wasn't poisoned, before sipping the sweetest elixir she'd ever known.

That smile faded however when they spotted icy blue eyes boring into them from a private booth on the balcony floor.

"Isn't that your Uncle?"

"Ugh good date ruined,"

"Do you remember what I said about homophobes and throat kicks?"

"Not until they slur," Korra mused finishing her drink, blood beginning to boil, the heat of the wine fanning the flames, "I'm sorry there's fire and wine at home and I can't be here with him."

"No I get it," Asami gave her an encouraging look. "But hey no pitch forks,"

Korra couldn't help but smirk as she helped her up. Asami was all for getting her girlfriend out of a toxic place, but in the practice she was immediately swept with harsh freezing gusts.

"How is it even colder now?"

"Just get in here," Korra opened her jacket and Asami slipped in tucking her face into Korra's neck and inhaling as her nose turned pink.

"Are we going to walk like this or?"

"Or I can carry you in my coat, sing Diana Ross, turn the rest of this town gay,"

"That's incredibly in poor taste," Korra stiffened at the voice she hadn't heard in years.

"Uncle,"

Asami leapt away from her, body tense, fists clenched, but Korra had the mind to stand between them.

"Proud of how your plan worked out?" Korra asked.

"It may have been diverted, but the results are the same, the town knows what you are." The tall sallow skinned man looked down his nose at her, twisting his lips.

"Except I control the narrative…you saw the papers."

"People will take pictures of anything strange, monkeys at the zoo for example."

"Listen pal," Korra rounded on him, finger aloft, "The only reason you pulled such a pathetic bone head move as to send your kids to spy on me is because your policy is bear shit and and everyone here knows it, so you're resorting to bashing your brother's gay daughter, because he's succeeded in everything you haven't," Korra preceded to list them on her fingers, a little wine drunk and incensed by years of hiding and building burgeoning rage toward this man and all he represented,

"You lose elections, you're unapproachable and physically a toothpick, sadistic, and you're too far up my ass looking for gay you're missing the closet case that is your own kid!"

Unalaq slapped her.

"That wasn't fair," Korra turned her head back with a hand to her own sore cheek, "Desna should tell you himself," Unalaq raised his palm to smack her again, but she caught it and jabbed three fingers in his throat, leaving him gagging.

"Be careful how you react," Korra warned him calmly, "My girlfriend has many lawyers, she will sue," clasping her hand Asami guided her away without looking back. The heiress was stunned, her own body thrumming with adrenaline, aching to use it. She wanted to scream in triumph, go back and smack Unalaq herself, and kiss Korra until she couldn't breathe, but Korra was walking so fast it was difficult to know which one to pick.

"My lawyers only deal with patent law really," she confessed out of ear shot.

"Don't tell him that," Korra hushed after turning a corner, unable to swipe away her grin as she pawed at her stinging cheek. "I hit him,"

"You poked him - He hit you! He's evil, he deserved it."

"I know. He has been cruel to me my whole life, since I was born he's looked at me like Hamlet, I fully expected him to pour poison in my dad's ear at some point."

The carmaker cupped her jaw and soothed the mark with her thumb.

"Can I go back and kick his ass for ever hurting you?"

"Oh my God yes, I swear that's a fantasy I've had wait - No the last thing I need is to be stuck in a court room with that man,"

The heiress laughed and kissed the corner of her mouth, before settling with the centre.

"My hero, so brave," she cooed, snuggling close and drawing her lips over her mouth and cheek. Korra bit her lip smiling, absorbing her gentle ministrations. "Standing up to the whole town."

Korra shrugged speechless, about to say something humble and self deprecating when she remembered something that had piqued her curiosity earlier.

"So which law was it?" Korra asked in the parting.

"What?"

"Earlier, you said you wanted to use a law or two. You…wanted to set up a business in harbour town?"

"I don't-"

"And not be discriminated against," Korra recalled the cocky, flippant way her girlfriend had spoken to Ginger, charming and witty, and alluding to something too fantastic for Korra to ask about outright. "You wanted to buy a house here then? Or… rent?"

"Korra," Asami blushed, pursing her lips to hide her smile, "You know what I meant…I'm serious…about us."

"After what happened…You still believe in marriage?" Korra couldn't say if it was the adrenaline that made her ask, or Asami's gambit with the reporter. The heiress stared at her, expression unreadable, reflecting quietly on her first wedding and how it ended. "Sorry I didn't mean to-"

"I still believe, one day" Asami told her, shooting her a quick curve of her lips "If the right person…" her confidence wavered but her eyes met blues, "if she'll have me,"

Korra's heart seized in her chest as her mind flooded with the words, and everything they implied. Asami was already leading her home in her daze. Ears shining pink in the thrill of the unspoken now in the air. When they reached the porch the heiress turned back to ask if Korra had keys, only Korra tugged on her hand and pressed her mouth firmly over hers. Asami caught the back of her neck and kept her close, her back pressed into brick, angling her head.

The glittering lights of Harbour Town behind them, triumphant over a day that neither of them ever expected to happen, kissing like teenagers drunk on it. It took too long a moment for either to realise the porch lights were flickering on and off. Lips parting half heartedly, they dared a peek at the window to the living room.

The curtains were closed, but swaying gently.

"Oh my God," Korra seethed, marvelling at how after everything she still couldn't stop smiling.

"This is so high school," Asami laughed.

"I can't wait til I graduate and move to the city." Korra rubbed her face before fumbling with her keys.

"Oh it's not so bad here, the curtains match the bed, it's nice,"

"You and my mom…" Korra opened the door, peering around the corner to see find her parents, nonchalantly watching tv, her father holding the newspaper upside down. "…Could start a decorating club,"

"Maybe I'm getting tips for our apartment."

"Our apartment?"

Asami's heart was in her stomach as she teased.

"Stop dragging your feet and ask me to move in with you."

Korra was once again stunned into silence, watching her girlfriend tuck her hair behind her ears, and nervous eyes hold her gaze in earnest.

"You really mean that?"

"Of course, she could come visit us and I…" Asami dropped the act, and put her heart on the line.

Considering what a shared apartment with Korra would be like, for not the first time since she'd shared in that bed she now thought of as a home. She was staring at a ravine of dark doubts and on the other side mysterious and pure, but something deep inside her gut was telling her to take a running leap, "I don't ever want to wake up without you again."

I'm dead, I died, if this is heaven I never want to leave

"Okay," Korra nodded furiously, grinning, tears leaking, "Okay, tomorrow?"

"We told your mom we'd be here til Friday,"

"Saturday then?"

"I'll make some calls." the heiress smiled, a little numb herself, until Korra tugged her so eagerly into her arms that the ice still on her boots sent them slipping onto their asses, landing hard onto the pinewood.

Korra didn't remember sitting up, but here she was, chest heaving, eyes leaking, lost in the puncturing gasp that came after her foot slipped, perched on molten rock one second, and the world blasted out from under her feet the next. Face going slack and dumb, as the unexpected ripped though her, hot and searing.

Hundreds of miles from any volcano, staring emptily in the cold dark, reliving a nightmare that had already come true once before. Why not again? Why not remember it in agonising detail? What if this time the outcome was worse, and instead of saving three little survivors she bore witness to three little scorched corpses on the cliffside, before burning to death herself.

Between dreams, reality and oblivion, all logic was unobtainable then as her wounds reopened and bled profusely. A boulder from Makapu's mouth shot up, and on its descent clawed down the helicopter that had been searching for them.

If she could speak she would scream, but every muscle she had was coiled, tense and twisting.

"I'm here," a whisper filtered through, and an icy hand cooling the side of her face. Slowly she became dislodged from the nightmare, and reality held her with a long arm about her chest, and had tucked herself behind her, sitting her snug between her legs. "It's not real,"

With that Korra's vocal cords and breath came loose, deflating with a shattered groan squeezed from her lungs of a broken accordion.

"I have you," Asami told her, the arm around her ribs reaching out toward the bedside cabinet, fumbling with a lamp before illuminating them. Next to it she pulled up the photo. Smiling Korra. Asami, kissing her.

"They're safe," she flipped it, three distinct handwritings visible through the blur of tears, "Honey, It's over,"

Korra couldn't say I know, or I'm okay, or I'm being stupid. She could still make noise but that didn't mean she could speak. She reached up and grabbed, her fingers curling gratefully around Asami's wrist and holding her there as more and more pieces of her brain awakened, until she was alert enough to let go of the horrors.

Korra's life had, for the most part, levelled out; she was at peace with her parents, she sure and certain in the love Asami held for her, and that nothing could take her away. She was still at the mercy of PTSD, the crux of that curse being that no matter how far she travelled, it would always come back to remind her.

Her breaths became sobs, easing back, body slumped into the heiress' front as she cradled her.

It took all her strength, pushing the words through her throat to finally say.

"I'm sorry,"

"Shh," Asami shushed her, pressing her lips over her temple, brushing over the tears Korra had wept in her sleep while still horizontal.

They'd done this before over their years of friendship, albeit with much less soothing kisses on feverish skin. Korra's nightmares tended to stem from real life traumatic events. Except they were more than memories, in the waking it was as though she was reliving them, both in and out of body. If she were lucky enough that Asami was there; she'd hold her, until Korra had the wherewithal to tear herself away.

Back then, was for a hit and run driver, and what Korra had just relived was a literal burning hell-scape. The memory alone had been physically gruelling as well as emotionally demented. The heiress could tell from the way Korra shook and sweat and begged incoherently before bolting upright.

"I woke you," Korra mumbled, mind levelling, selfishly nestling into Asami's chest.

"I'm taking care of you, like always." her whisper was nourishing, soothing and contrite. Her fingernails scritched at Korra's scalp, and like a latch she unlocked her, muscles slumping into their exhaustion, the heiress carrying her onto a soft place to land.

"It must be hell." Korra chagrinned.

"Not to me. Not if it's you," Asami told her without a beat. Korra listened to those words, and let the record player in her mind play them to a symphony of bliss. Tears slipped from the corner of her eye, she swiped at them, more embarrassed of the inexplicably joyful drops than those of pain or fear.

Asami's thumb traced her brow, and forefinger hooked under a lock of hair, the middle another, and ring another.

"I'm fine now-"

"You're not," Asami chided, "it's okay that you're not,"

Korra should tell her to sleep, but she knew that her girlfriend wouldn't stand for it. She lay against her, entirely weak, eyes shut, feeling the gentle satisfying tugs of Asami plaiting her hair.

The Ice Sculptor sniffled, tucking her hand between her cheek and Asami's chest, settling in.

"I adore you." Korra told her.

"I'm obsessed with you so…" Asami mimicked her and Korra couldn't help the laugh that fell out of her then. "Do you have a hair band I could borrow?"

"Korra, alarm,"

"'S your alarm," Korra moaned back, nose tucked in the crook of Asami's neck. When she had fallen asleep she was being cradled, and awoke planted, sunken into Asami's embrace as though she'd fallen from a forty foot drop.

"Your body hath incapacitated mine,"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"You care not for me, nor my plight,"

"Why are you talking like a victorian child?"

"Woe is me,"

Korra lifted herself, half smiling, unable to open one eye. Slapping the bleeping box on the beside.

"Oh my god it's six, you don't have to be up for half an hour," Korra balked.

"I scheduled in cuddle time."

"Oh,"

Asami flipped her so she could rest her cheek on Korra's sternum, she blindly fumbled for her hand and placed it on her hair. Korra scritched gently, she couldn't plait like Asami but she could put her to sleep with careful patterns she'd studied in their six months together.

"Through," the heiress asked and Korra obliged, laughing, carding her fingers through her silk locks. "More,"

"I only have two hands,"

"Spare me your excuses," Asami declared in a drawling over dramatic voice, her own fingers teeming into Korra's shirt cold and soothing.

"So cruel," Korra kissed her forehead, "walk on my back with high heels, please."

Asami giggled and settled back into her happy place, fingers feeding into Korra's shirt, tracing her navel, leg's tangled with her girlfriend's and her lips literally anywhere on her soft expanse of beautiful brown skin. Her eyes couldn't help but climb the length of the body she pressed herself into, from the ruffles of her shirt, the jut of collar bones, the content guise of her face as she enjoyed the moment.

"I love you," her gut spoke for her, but she managed to stifle the next part, and spoke it only in her head, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Little did she know, Korra was more or less thinking the same, but cradled the secret thought behind closed eyes and soothing fingers. It would jinx it to say it too soon, she was sure of it, no matter how sure she felt about their relationship.

"I love you too," her mouth smiled speaking the words, feeling the Carmaker tuck herself tighter into her embrace. Korra wasn't a morning person, but waking up with Asami was something she absolutely adored. Her groggy wakeful ramblings were golden moments of adorable weirdness that she never would have known as merely her best friend. She could never have thought how intimate it was, watching her dress, put on her makeup, brush her teeth, shave her legs, or simply lie quietly with her waiting out the clock.

"I don't want you to go," Korra lamented quietly when the second alarm sounded.

Asami propped herself up with her forearms on her chest.

"I'll see you here tonight, at home, in our bed, where we live together,"

"Not soon enough, call in sick,"

"They're catching on,"

"So fire them,"

"Or, come have lunch with me," Asami dipped her head, tracing her lips over Korra's jaw, hovering over her mouth before adding. "We can talk business,"

"Ok yeah whatever you want,"

Asami only smiled, and slipped from the bed. Korra turned to look at the glaring clock, and began counting the minutes. 06:31

12:31

Korra ran to Asami's office, sports bag on her back, sweat jeweling her neck, takeout bag in hand.

The Carmaker thought she was the most beautiful courier to ever be buzzed into the building.

"Delivery," she chirped happily raising the bag. Asami swore she felt her pupils dilate at the sight of her in a compression top. There was perhaps too long a moment she ogled her, her sculpted lines, her shoulder muscles, and biceps, glistening in a way that made her wet her lips. Words, you have them, so speak! Asami had to remind herself to act like a rational human in public, or at least in front of her Assistant/ new best friend.

"I can't believe you actually came," It was proving to be difficult in front of her girlfriend/ex best friend.

"Perks of being your own boss I can step out whenever I want, plus I'm not entirely convinced you would eat, unless someone made you."

"Hey I feed her!" Chimed Opal from her desk, still typing, "Oh crap is that the time?"

"It's okay Opal, Korra's got you covered." the heiress told her, smug, reaching up and tugging the drawstring of her girlfriends bag. Opal looked up and finally took in the meal that walked in.

"Jesus," she mumbled, even seeing pieces of Korra's back lent her a total understanding as to why Asami had jumped the proverbial fence. "Can I have some?" she added a little too loudly. Asami rolled her eyes, as Korra flashed her an innocent smile.

"Go get lunch Opal," Asami instructed, "Take as long as you need,"

As she stepped inside the Carmaker saw her assistant giving her a thumbs up from her desk.

Asami slammed the door behind her.

"I got extra Moo Shu, because I know you like to pick at mine but I've noticed your take is getting bigger so, if there's leftovers you can put it in the fridge here and just leave a threatening note," Korra laid out the containers sequentially on Asami's desk.

Her girlfriend had a habit of keeping everything aligned just so, so the Sculptor made a point of orienting the boxes in harmony with the stationary on her desk.

"You hungry?" Korra asked unbeknownst to the affect she had on her by merely standing there.

Asami locked the door before crossing the room in two swift strides. When Korra turned to greet her, the heiress caught her with a kiss, purposeful and magnetic. Her hips locked her against the desk as her fingers clawed through silken brown locks, sucking on her bottom lip and biting insistently, every touch snowballing into something bigger and more frantic.

"You didn't really mean talk by talk business did you?" Korra panted between impassioned kisses, nails scoring her skirt. "I've wanted to fuck you against this desk since you first gave me a tour of this building,"

"Stay quiet and you can't take my clothes off; I have a meeting," Asami instructed her.

"Deal," Korra responded in a breath.

Her arms wrapped around her back and lifted her bodily to her desk, shoving the food back, flinging stationary. Asami's lips drew away to kiss and suckle her throat, tasting the salt and sweat there, knees clamping at her hips insistently. Between her legs she could feel Korra's body stiffen and tense, the wordless code spoken with only lips to skin.

Korra reached between them, fingers grazing her blouse buttons, flicking them apart. Enough so that when Korra began her descent, she could tuck her bra and shirt to the side take her breast into her mouth, tongue circling its peak.

The heiress moaned before pulling her away, berating herself for giving in so easily, balancing Korra's sternum at the end of her stiletto.

"You're still wearing them," said the Ice Sculptor, smug. Asami had a hard time questioning the logic, particularly as Korra manoeuvred her leg, parting her, running that scorching hand of hers inside her thigh as she fitted her self between. Her lips a shuddering breath away, she lifted her again, carrying her to her chair and perching her at the edge of her seat.

Asami braced each heel either side of her on the desk, and Korra descended to her knees rucking up the heiress' skirt. She pulled her panties away from where they had been soaking and dipped her head, following the heady scent and kissing the building wetness gently. At first she licked, tasting with delicate swipes of her tongue as Asami's fingers carded into her hair.

"Korra," her cunt felt empty, she missed the complete sensation of her fingers working inside her, even as Korra's hand strayed above and plucked her nipple. Out of pure instinct she grabbed her wrist, and pulled two of her fingers into her mouth, partially to keep quiet, mostly because she craved the sensation of pulling Korra into her.

Korra moaned approvingly, flatting tongue against clit and finally slipping fingers effortlessly into silken folds. The heiress keened, hips fluttering, hands cupping the back of Korra's neck as if to guide her, well aware Korra knew exactly where to go; digits curling and pumping, adding a third, stretching her just enough. Korra's mouth worked harder into her, her eyes flying up to catch Asami, watching her face change, her mouth falling open, her eyebrows drawing in, her body wracking with pleasure.

When Asami came her body curled around Korra, as though subconsciously trying to keep her there, as her head falling back with a silent scream to the ceiling, and hips rutting uncontrollably against her mouth, every last lave and kiss Korra gave her sending her twitching and quivering into the next orgasm. When she stopped, with Korra squeezing the last few drops out of her until she could finally catch her breath, she closed her eyes and listened to the wet kiss of Korra's mouth leaving her clit. She didn't open them again, not even as Korra stood upright, opened her bag, took something from inside it, and the clink of straps of a belt piqued her curiosity.

"I had a feeling," Was all Korra said in explanation, "And I always wanted to try this,"

It was new, Asami noted, and bigger than anything she'd yet taken, just the size alone and the knowledge it would make her stretch made her heart skip.

This was a day of acting without particularly thinking, still seated she was at the height to lean forward and take the tip of cock into her mouth, head titling back, sucking in the color, tongue skilfully butterfly under helm and turning her eyes up to watch Korra's bore down into her.

Her lips came away with a wet pop, and she stood, practiced hands catching Korra's head and neck and aiming lips onto hers in a fierce kiss. There was something frantic in the way they clung to each other, spurred by the time limit and the sordid fantasy of it all, no matter how much time passed between them every touch felt knew and electric. Still the strap pressed insistently to her stomach between them, and Asami knew something had to be done about that.

The heiress nibbled at her lip and let her hands slip beneath lycra, palming the slick expanse of Korra's back, itching to pull up. Korra knew she'd lose the upper hand if she allowed this, and so, took control.

She scooped Asami off her feet, and lay her back on the large desk, shoving aside a swathe of ledgers, blue prints and braced herself above the heiress. Just the idea of easing the shaft inside her had her panting with desire.

Korra hooked her arm under her knee, aligning her hips so she was splayed open, perching the tip of the phantom member at the edge of her glistening pink.

"Asami," Korra coaxed her to open her eyes, thumb tracing her lower lip, rolling it down a little, Asami suckling it inside. Korra's fingers skimmed her slick wetness, guiding the head down her slit before sinking inside her a mere inch. Asami sucked in a breath and her voice came with it.

"Go slow," she breathed, tugging Korra down until their foreheads balanced, heavy breaths mingling. Dutiful, Korra does as she's told, kissing her sweetly, easing her open, fluttering her hips until Asami is filled and their bodies flush. With long deepening strokes, Korra fucks her slowly, Asami widens her legs and feels her strong arm hooked under her back, completely supporting her, dripping, quivering and mouthing I love you's over and over against her lips.

"Fuck," she gasps as the full length throbs inside her finally, pleasure zipping through every nerve in her body.

"Is that okay?" Korra asked, "Tell me if it-"

"Korra," Asami breathed, hand cupping her jaw, craning her eyes on hers, "Destroy me,"

Korra's eyes darken as her conviction settled, climbing effortlessly over her, laying her against the desk, obeying with the strong sure rut of her hips, unselfconscious and daring, fucking her into the wood. Asami's hand comes up and grips the back of her sweat slick neck, her nose tucked into her hair as she pants and clings on for the ride of her life.

By the time she's reached her mark, her speed has heightened, lips latching onto her pulse point and heiress driven to near madness in her silent ecstasy, clinging tighter onto her stretching clothes, curving her spine and lifting her legs around her to feel the throbbing length firmly stroke her front wall.

Hips moving faster and harder, striving for a common goal, Korra used her grip on the desk to keep a tight and hard rhythm. Asami's could hear her pens shuffling as the desk shook beneath her, Korra's breath huffing against her jaw, her hard body pressing into her front fully clothed incensed her. The knowledge that she was creasing her blouse, her blazer, that her fingers between the ties that keep her hair perfect for the boardroom, we shouldn't be doing this, mussing them as they intertwined, all the while being filled so exquisitely by the thick toy inside her, fuck fuck fuck, and Korra's unrelenting pace, fucking me, fuck me, Korra! was overwhelming, so much so she could no longer keep her silence.

She let out a keening sound, god, so close.

"I've got you," Korra tells her, rising her leg using her grip on her knee, opening her wider as she gives into desperate grinding, finally using her full core strength to drive the cock into her.

"I'm cumming," she gasped, repeating it, hands clawing at Korra's maddeningly clothed back, twisting her shirt in her fingers, desperate for skin. With a noise Korra had never heard before Asami's body shakes, arching her back above the desk, thighs clenching around her hips. Deciding the only way to stay quiet her is with her mouth, her tongue seeking hers laving carelessly again each other in a deep and frantic kiss.

It was times like this Korra couldn't help but wonder what her former self might think of this; Korra's strap on deep inside her best friend, the taste of her scintillating her tongue, Asami's lithe muscular arms trembling as her body clenched and shuddered uncontrollably. She was beginning to let go of these past-self comparisons in leu of her amazing present.

"Hey," Korra repeated, placing tender kisses on her temple. "Asami honey, look at me,"

Korra braced herself above her on her forearms, admiring her from above, still inside her. Her green eyes were bright and clear. Her lips slowly forming a warm satisfied smile up at her as she involuntarily clenched around the thick strap.

She lay across her own desk, sun streaming through the windows and on her thighs, fully aware that an ill-timed window cleaner could easily see themselves a money shot. Nothing could convince her to move at that moment, there was always something so tranquil about the after that she loved. Particularly with Korra stroking her, kissing her gently as the sweat began to evaporate from her skin.

Asami didn't waste a moment, combing her fingers through her hair, pulling her down, kissing her deeply. She pulled insistently at Korra's shirt, wordless instruction clear. Korra stood, and eased the strap out of her, letting her snap the clasp and drag her back down onto the desk. Greedy fingers finding their way back between Asami's legs and stroking the soaking wetness pooling there before plunging two back inside.

The heiress felt she was about to cry she was so happy.

"Miss Sato?"

The pair froze in disbelief, Asami's legs bent high as Korra's fingers between them stopped pumping.

"Fuck," Asami breathed, clutching Korra's neck, lips a moment away from hers, "Please no," Asami had never been particularly religious but then she thought, Please God let her keep fucking me until I cannot walk out of this building.

"Uh huh Opal?" The heiress prayed she wouldn't try the locked door and give them away, she continued to as Korra slipped down her body, when her head was beneath her legs she leaned in once more and laved just enough to get Asami to flutter hips instinctively. The heiress had a hard time connecting to her morals as Korra suckled her clit, sending her eyes rolling back into her head.

"Your two o'clock is here, is your…meeting…running over?"

She groaned in frustration when Korra pulled away, wishing she could return the favour tenfold, alas this the end of her lunch hour and Korra's own thoroughness thwarted such an act. She felt even more put out when she felt Korra threading her legs through the panties she'd discarded, only stroking her outer lips thrice before kissing her, tasting her juices on her lips and helping her down off her desk with shaking limbs.

"Two minutes!" she said the first number in her head, and then panicked over how little time that was scrambling to press her clothes flat and put her desk to rights. Korra repacked her bag, on her knees on the ground, wiping her own mouth she told her smiling.

"You might have to redo your lipstick." When she stood she tugged her skirt down and stroked the flyaways from her hair.

As Asami took a mirror from her desk and wiped away the evidence, Korra went about re-organising her desk, food and blue prints included. The Carmaker finished first, and watched as Korra carefully placed the take out boxes and told her.

"You will eat in your meeting."

"What about you?"

"I already ate," Korra shrugged, stepping behind the desk and kissing her forehead, if not for the slick feeling between her legs, Asami could almost kid herself that nothing had happened.

"Wait!" Asami caught her at the door, running in heels straight into her arms, and letting her lift her up, weightless, her hip and shoulder sockets giving satisfying pops in her squeeze. Eventually, unfortunately, it was time to let go, but not without kiss.

"When I get home, we'll finish this,"

"Deal,"

When Asami opened the door to her head of security, she panicked and she lied.

"Thank you for bringing over those documents, they were very…thorough,"

Korra grinned at her sweetly, adjusting her bag.

"Let me know the next time you want a package." She saluted.

"Lin, it's so good to see you," Asami adjusted her focus, plastering on an innocent smile, trying not to focus on Korra smirking behind her.

"You too, and nice to meet your partner finally," she nodded towards Korra before stepping in the office. The two shared a cracked look before Asami waved at her girlfriend gingerly.

She's so adorable, Korra thought to herself, staring at the door a little too long after it had closed, I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

"Awkward," Opal chimed in, "Where'd your ponytail go, Korra?"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"So this is like a regular Thursday for you two?"

"Goodbye Opal!"

As the solstice loomed, so did Harbour Town's first pride, and as the catalyst in their LGBT movement Korra and Asami had been reserved front row seats. The summer snows were at their thinnest, and the sun shone brightly over the kaleidoscope of flags and decor. For the first time in a decade, Korra was following her father into the Town Hall, into the mayoral office where he spent his days.

He wanted to show her something, and of course the tiny anxious part of her that remained; warned her it was a trick, that Unalaq was wearing a Tonraq mask and was waiting to unzip and slap her with a lawsuit a full six months after the 'incident'.

The first thing she noticed upon entering was the rainbow flag in a pen pot on his desk, suddenly she remembered all the good that had happened because of him. The relief stopped her in her tracks. The second was her picture, framed, twice; Asami kissing her cheek on a beach and a newspaper cover of Korra kissing Asami in triumph the last time she was here.

"Would you like some tea?" Tonraq offered.

"No," she stammered, slipping out of her ennui.

"Are you okay honey?" her father asked in earnest.

"I've been afraid to ask…how it's been here, since…"

Her father smiled at her warmly, and although he was her parent it had become habit to second guess the act. As she rationalised it as something she should accept, Tonraq took a box from the filing draw of his desk.

"These started, during the first week of the new laws," he lifted envelopes and cards from it, "Started as a trickle, but as word got out, a flood," from a manila package he pulled out photographs, wedding pictures, brides with brides, grooms with grooms, it wasn't until she really looked did she recognise that these were venues in Harbour Town, rich in blues and woods and snows, "there's some for you and Asami too,"

"What are these?"

"Why, they're thank you's Korra,"

"But I didn't-"

"You know you did, it was one of the bravest thing I've seen you do, and it showed people the way. Hearts and minds…and this movement is centred around you, there's a reason I put the parade on your birthday."

Korra watched him carefully, and the weight of what he was saying came over her in a rush. She looked at the swathe of pictures he was splaying on his desk, and saw the happiness she was feeling reflected on the faces of the newly married couples.

"Your mother and I have been invited to a dozen weddings this year alone,"

Korra hugged her father, and realised then this was the first time she had embraced him, and not the other way around.

"I'm gathering quite a collection," Tonraq told her, "I'm hoping that soon enough, I'll have your picture too,"

"Oh she's so adorable," Asami crooned on her knees, "She give you any trouble?" she reached for those soft white ears and ruffled the smiling puppy's face.

"No more than Korra," Senna leaned against Korra's doorframe where ironically she had been hiding her gift.

"This isn't too much is it?"

"She has wanted a dog since forever, you hit the nail on the head; she is a cutie,"

"I wanted our first birthday together to be special." Asami smiled as her hand received snuffles and she cradled the bright white malamute in her lap. "Thank you for picking her up for me,"

"Just don't let her loose in the snow, or you'll never find her again," Senna smiled down at her, throat tight, swiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy you're both here,"

"We couldn't step out on our own party," The heiress assured her, occupying the puppy with a chew toy before standing. "We'll go to pride, we'll get back, the big reveal and…I've been looking forward to it,"

The heiress swept her suddenly sweating palms on the front of her jeans. Senna noticed the tells of someone she had come to know quite well over the years, and pressed.

"You okay? You seem nervous."

"I've actually been thinking about it every day," she admitted unable to omit truths in front of someone she respected so much. Senna cocked her head, brow creasing. Asami's heart was in her mouth when she put her hand in her pocket, and didn't even have to open the box for Senna to know what it was. But still she fumbled with the clasp, in the opening and Senna clapped a hand over her mouth when she saw the gold ring and sapphires embedded in it. "I wanted to ask if this was okay,"

Asami had berated herself for not practicing this part, truthfully she's concentrated more on the after, but still she wanted to make good with Korra's parents.

Senna's hands flapped a beat, before clasping Asami's shoulders and tugging her into firm hug.

"God, with everything you've got planned, I think she might have a heart attack!"

"There's EMT's on stand-by today right?"

"Hey mom!" Korra's voice rang from down stairs and they sprung apart, "Asami?"

"Go downstairs," Senna urged, swiping at tears that now, would not stop leaking, "I'll hide puppy."

Asami sniffled and nodded, surprised when the older woman stopped her and kissed her cheek.

"It's more than okay, we love you. You know this."

"Oh God now I'm crying,"

"Korra has an amazing amount of love to give, I've always known that even though she spent so long hiding it, Asami, I'm just so enthralled the way that she gives it to you, and she does."

Asami couldn't help but each out and wrap her long arms around the shorter woman again, clutching her close, processing her words.

"Go!" Senna urged, rallying to the fur ball and doggy crate and carrying them to her bedroom as Asami descended the stairs.

"Hey hun you guys almost ready to go?"

"Mmhmm," Asami clenched the box in her fist in her cardigan pocket, "Your mom is just - she's on her way,"

Korra caught the higher pitch of her voice, and watched her try and school her features.

"You look freaked, what did she say?"

"She's glad we're here and she told me she loved me," her lip quivered as the reality of those words knocked her for six.

"Oh God she broke you," Korra caught her in her arms and held her frame securely against her own, now well practiced in soothing her, tucking her eyes gratefully into her neck. When her mother descended she scolded, "Mom!"

"You weren't there!" Senna defended, "Where's your father?"

"He said he had a special tie and," Tonraq made his entrance tying said tie, "It's rainbow, a little on the nose dad,"

"If I can't wear this on Pride when can I?"

"He has a point," Asami sniffled.

A feint yip interrupted the conversation.

"What was that?" Korra asked, Senna coughed.

"Frog in throat," she lied, crinkling her eyes, smiling innocently, perhaps too wide.

"My girls," Tonraq opened his wings and swept the three most important women in his life to his chest, "Shall we march?"

The bars, the shops, the bus stops, the houses donned themselves in pride flags, she even saw flags that had the Harbour Town sigil emblazoned over the colours. The air tasted sweet with delicacies from the tribe, smiling faces happily receiving stamps of colour, without words, her hometown had spelled it out, you are here and you are welcome. Korra gripped Asami's hand tight, unable to form the words as they walked.

"Look who kissed and made up!" Their heads whipped out to find Kana, Kya and Katara sitting outside a bar like it was a bistro. They were old pros, donned in feather boas, sipping mai tai's and watching the parade for the best seats in the house.

"No I walked in on them doing that, up top!" Kana mused before sipping on her straw. Katara high-fived her while Kya palmed her face and stood to greet them.

In her head, Korra framed the moment as it happened, precious and slow. Kya hugged her tight, their shared histories ever present in the climate and air as finally, the pair felt outwardly accepted and acceptable. Kya moved from person to person, barely speaking, her message clear. Every part of the encounter was exquisite and pure, as she mouthed thank you to all the members of Korra's family.

"Hey Jenga," Kya quipped wrapping her arms around Asami finally, "How far you've come," she praised her quietly, the heiress body sung with the pride of it.

"It's so good to see you again." Asami told her rocking her gratefully from side to side.

"My turn!" crowed Kana, having gone down the line and decided it was best to hold the two of them at once. "You guys are underdressed," she added lending Asami a boa and looking in her own purse for more.

"So how does Harbour Town do a pride parade?" Kya asked Tonraq, nudging his arm in a sisterly way.

"So there's a march to the stage at the southern peak, speeches, music and fireworks, and then we all enjoy the events at put on by our local bars for the occasion," Tonraq recited, gesturing as though guiding weather patterns, folding his hands over each other in mayoral stature when he was done.

"Thank you for that, my lord mayor,"

Tonraq guffawed good naturedly and tugged his old friend into a firm hug.

Hand in hand the couples meandered along a promenade, watching the people of Harbour town, march shoulder to shoulder. Korra had doubted this event would amass more than a few tourists who came for the ice dives and cultural appropriation, but as she looked she saw that despite the way the town used to look every inhabitant seemed to know somebody who was touched by this.

Whole families bolstered around their one, and stood amazed as they watch them step out blinking in strange sunlight. She swore for a moment she could see Desna, with a larger hairier gentleman, but in a blink the two were gone and Korra chalked it up to midnight sun madness.

"Was everyone here in the closet and I just didn't know it?" She wondered aloud.

"Maybe some people are allies, and embraced the change," Asami responded, squeezing her hand thrice as eyes followed them. An eager set from the crowd approached them, timid and shrinking, the girl looked as though she was breathing freely for the first time in a long time.

"Can I take a picture with you two?"

"Of course," Korra told her after a beat. She scrolled the dial on a disposable camera and turned it towards them smiling, Asami awkwardly threw up a peace sign.

When she was gone Asami took another look around.

"This whole town is gay,"

"Shut up," Korra laughed. "I think there's tourists…dad showed me a lot of people have come here…just to get married," Korra paused as the 'M' word passed from her lips, they hadn't spoken about it since they were last here, "and there's people like Kya,"

"And you," Asami added.

"And me," Korra smiled. "You have to take some credit too, none of this would be have happened without you persuading my dad me being gay is okay."

"I doubt that, and it wasn't me," the heiress tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked around the town, before casting her gaze on their interlocked fingers, "I'm just glad we can do this here," she told her, raising their hands and kissing her knuckles.

When they reached the stage the sun was setting. Deep blues and pinks merged in the sky over the ocean, and in between them the lit up small stage perched on the edge of a cliff.

Asami held Korra's hand in her left, and the weight of the velveteen box in her right tucked away. She tried her best to keep the truth of it from her face, but as she second guessed she couldn't help the way she twitched. She kept thinking about what it meant, past, present and future, the power of it thrumming through their entangled fingers. The more they walked and enjoyed this pantheon of love and collective change the more she wanted to forget the plan and kneel in the thin sheathes of snow.

She was glad when Tonraq got up on stage and started to speak, his voice was a welcome distraction.

"Welcome every one, to the Tribe's very first LGBT Pride Celebration!" The crowd erupted into applause, but as last time Korra stayed still, overwhelmed by it all, "We couldn't have asked for a better turn out, and as a citizen, I couldn't be more proud of my hometown… but this isn't about me…my daughter fell in love," he found her in the crowd in a second, "and we all want to celebrate love like hers on a day like today. Love like hers proves and assure our fellow citizens, this is a safe place to be yourself, no matter who you have always been. So without further ado, Korra, Asami,"

"What?" Asami balked but Korra wasn't looking at her, even as she led her through the crowd and on the stage, blood pumping in her ears. "Korra what's happening?" Her heart bottomed out when her foot touched the first step of the stage. Her right hand shot forward and clasped the hand that held her left as her body filled with adrenaline.

Korra only managed a few steps onto the stage, Asami realised she was trembling, and not with the cold.

"Asami," she pulled a palm sized box from her jacket, and in the same move fell to one knee.

She couldn't speak or breathe or hear, as the Korra box opened showed her the perfectly crafted betrothal necklace. Sculpted with intricate minute patterns, and inlayed with bright cerulean resin in the shape of a cog and water symbols.

Asami kneeled to her level, cupping her jaw, and training her eyes on her own smaller box, that she had no issue with opening one handed, instead of asking the words she merely kissed her, and when her hearing returned she could have sworn a bomb had gone off, if not for the crowd bursting into riotous applause.

"Marry me," they whispered it against lips, and both responded with a resounding "Yes," in a heartbeat.

They embraced on stage, swiping tears of joy holding each other in a cocoon of this moment.

"Um," she sniffled, laughing, crying, full of everything, fumbling with the necklace and offering it to Asami who pulled her hair aside before kissing her. She sealed the clasp and ran her fingers over the carvings, the heiress reaching up to do the same.

Asami took the hand she'd been clinging too and slipped the ring on and Korra was lost in it, mesmerised by the glow of gold, and how perfect it looked on her skin.

"Happy birthday," Asami told her.

"Is this my present?" Korra laughed, wiping her eye with the heel of her hand.

"Actually no," Asami chuckled breathily, "It's not,"

Fireworks lit up the sky then, golden, bright and screaming triumphant into the night. While the crowd was momentarily distracted, Asami kissed her, and pulled her off stage with an aim to kiss her more. In the euphoria of the moment they quite forgot they were in front of a crowd, but the people strangely seemed to be living for this moment.

"Korra, Asami, anything for The Tribune?" Of course Ginger was ready to pounce.

"Oh Ginger! Hi, uhm…We are no longer girlfriends," Korra told her.

"That is the worst way to tell people we're engaged." The heiress admonished her, grinning, catching the tears still falling from her eyes as her body sang with adrenaline.

"I panicked!" said Korra smile full and even, giggling with her best friend and catching her hand.

"Kiss me you fool," Korra did, unselfconscious and proud, sure of the gesture and everything it represented.

She found the rest of her family in the crowd, and her friends, teary eyed and desperate to hug their happiness into them in a huddle. Her mother too choked up to speak, held her daughter for the longest time, head balanced on her strong shoulder, extremely happy that her baby was happy.

Asami was showing off her betrothal necklace, and Kya couldn't help but pull down her scarf and reveal one of her own, winking, placing her finger over her lips and hiding it once more.

"This is your day," she assured a speechless heiress, who could only wobble her lip, nod and fall back into the next pair of arms, Tonraq lifting her off the ground as though she were star player.

Music piped up, performers started performing, the Mayor of the city crowed over the din of the crowd.

"I knew this would work!"

"What? Both?" The Carmaker laughed, tracing her fingertip over the necklace when her put her down and watching Korra hold her mother.

"Look at that smile," he explained, in awe of the chain of events that led to it.

Free and easy Korra, it was everything they'd always wanted for her.

The hours since leaving the house could only be an emblazoned in her memory as a long tapestry; an exquisite panoramic portrait of the day.

She thought it would end on returning to her parents house and in her mind began sealing the frame, finessing the details, hanging it high, shining above all others.

It was only when Asami stopped her on the porch did she maybe think this was premature.

For the first time all day, they were alone together. The rush of emotions charging through them were slowing and preparing to land.

Asami was cupping her cheeks, etching the memory for her own archives, thumb tracing her jaw holding back from the sweet curve of her lips.

"I'm gonna marry you," Asami told her, hearing the beauty of the statement.

Korra laughed and threw herself into her arms, her glee emanating bodily through her. Old Korra might've asked if she'd felt this happy the first time she was engaged, paranoid and self deprecating, but in the present all she could do was enjoy it.

"Why are you crying?" Asami crooned, stroking her wet cheeks.

"I'm not I'm just- I've never been so happy,"

"Oh," the worry in Asami's face faded, "just so long as you show up on the day…I mean I don't think I could recover as well as last time," she joked with a grimace, "I can't believe I wasted all that time not being yours,"

Just saying that made Korra feel nostalgic, she'd loved being her friend, even though she'd pined she'd never have traded it, not given what she had now.

"We always used to say, we'd grow old and live together in a house as old biddies, on rocking chairs on a porch somewhere, sitting crooked and talking straight, just old best friends. Plotting our future and inside I thought yeah right, you know."

"I always expected that one day we'd grow apart, that my crush would fade and we'd just go in the separate directions we were destined to go in and that my love for you, knowing how strong it was, how deep it went, would be something I just carried, alone…but at every turn you held on to me, through everything, any shift in the world you would reach out and grab and refuse to let me go off to be miserable by myself, no matter how awful any of it was; you clung to the positives and small mercies and just guided me through."

"Recently I've come to realise it's because you loved me just as strongly, just not in the same way. I think that was like my Rosetta stone to our whole relationship. Everything was there, we just didn't know it until Ember Island. Knowing that just makes all the anxieties I had, the insecurities, evaporate." Korra breathed the last word, relief washing through her. "You make me feel like not only is true love something that exists, but it's something I have always had."

The heiress couldn't help but be moved miles by everything she said. It was difficult to speak to respond, and to be honest if she kissed her what remained of her plan would disappear into thin air.

"It was always obvious to me how important you are K…and I have loved you for all this time."

The natural conclusion to such a statement was a kiss, only Asami placed her cool fingers over Korra's lips.

"Get inside, close your eyes, it's time I gave you your present."

The sculptor was all too happy to oblige, almost tripping over after closing the door and ripping off her shoes.

"Wait there, Close your eyes," Asami insisted mounting the stairs.

"Now? Here?"

"And the door, do it."

Eyes closed Korra listened to the padding of footsteps, following her fiancé audibly across the house. It wasn't until she heard the scrape of little nails on the floor did her heart skip, it nearly exploded when those paws pounced onto her chest and knocked her over.

"Polar bear puppy!" her inner child all but screamed it eyes wide cupping her furry cheeks and the dog licked her own.

"Actually no, as far as I could tell those are mythical, but she's an albino malamute so the closest I could find on the island,"

"I died, this is heaven I died, I'm hallucinating I died I'm dead - hey, not the mouth!" Korra wrestled with the beast only too happy to wrestle back. Asami kneeled next to her, and the excitable ball of fluff alternated her kisses to accommodate her new friends.

"Happy Birthday sweetie," Asami told her, kissing her temple."What are you going to name her?"

It was in the dark in the guest bedroom, Asami spooned her fiancé as they both watched their newest family member ruff quietly in her sleep, chasing hares in dreams. They were both too exhilarated by the day to even begin to drift, and for the first time were no longer tip toeing about the future. In fact planning it was proving to be immaculate pillow talk.

"Come on you must have some ideas of how you want your wedding to turn out."

"I'll be happy with whatever you want."

"So my first wedding, 2.0 you're saying you'll be happy with a mach 2?"

"Opal planned that wedding, not you," Korra teased, "And I've noticed," she added with a smile, "Since we got together you spend less time in the office, more time with me in our home,"

Asami balanced her lips in the crook of Korra's neck as she thought about it. She supposed a by-product of actually being in love was leaving work on time to be with her.

"We'll just go through it point by point like any other project," Korra surmised, logically, quietly, measuring her words, mindful that somewhere in Asami's last relationship this was the breaking point, "So long as we do it together,"

"All those years in love with me, you must've thought about a wedding, what you wanted it to look like?"

The secret tugged at Korra's lips, it still surprised her that even though they were worthless now, still she felt the need to protect them.

"Just you," she said it quietly, the words finding their way out after an eternity of darkness, just as surprised to see the light of day as Korra was. "It was kind of painful to think beyond that," the good truth came out, but so did the bad. Korra couldn't help it, Asami knew her deep dark terrible secret, and she was liberated by the honesty, but she couldn't stop herself from being totally honest.

"Close your eyes…describe it to me, but not the dress,"

"What about Vegas?" Korra jibed

"No-one dreams of getting married in Vegas,"

"I think it's romantic, running away, eloping,"

"I think we owe each other more,"

"If you say so," Korra snickered as Asami kissed her cheek only to nip at her ear, "Hey!"

"What about here, your dad did make it legal here specifically for you."

"Yeah that was nice of him." Korra played with the heiress' fingers in one hand, the other tangled in the fur of her present in the other, "I had this idea…a while back, we'd get married on Ember Island."

"I thought we'd finish our honeymoon there." Asami teased, "Rent the boat, sail around, get this one a doggy life vest, just you and me, coming and going as we pleased…"

"I like the sound of that, away from prying eyes,"

"Oh that hotel was most definitely betting on us."

"We were interesting and dare I say it scandalous." Korra turned in her arms, so they were lying face to face, "Maybe we should spend one night there, for old times sake."

"By that logic we should spend a night at Kya's,"

"And the bar?"

Asami narrowed her eyes but bit her lip.

"Fine, if only to gloat that I won,"

"Honey there's never been any competition,"

Asami claimed her prize, teasing Korra's lips apart with her tongue. She felt the chill of her engagement ring seep into her hair. Korra's palms pushed up her chemise and the rest

fell away so easily she wondered why she'd even bothered getting dressed. Asami took her wrists and pinned them beside her head. When Korra looked up at her, betrothal necklace hanging from her throat, she never imagined she would ever see this, even in her wildest dreams.

"Ruff," the couple froze, Naga was looking at them curiously cocking her head.

"Oh," Asami balked.

"Yip!" She hopped up on the bed settling on the covers in front of Korra and sticking her nose in her neck.

"Look at that face!" the heiress lamented, torn. "It's her first night with us,"

"Uhh, should we set some ground rules?" Korra asked.

Asami adjusted her veil, before catching the tall dark and handsome spectre in her reflection.

"You showed up," she teased, smile genuine turning to Iroh in the doorway.

Her ex pursed his lips, his eyes taking her in, before falling to the ground, stepping back.

Iroh crossed his hands over his cummerbund, cutting a charming figure in a dapper suit.

"Wow, Asami, I knew it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but I'm sad I missed this,"

Asami chuckled, rising to her feet, opening her arms. Iroh hesitated before lumbering over, weighted with emotion. All this time without her he'd come to the same conclusion she had, that they were never right for each other. What surprised them both was that after, they still a place in their lives.

"In the grand scheme of things, I'm not," the bride touched her necklace, thumbing the pattern she'd memorised and could recreate in her mind, a brail of history, and love all locked in a simple touch. "Thank you for doing this."

"Thank you for asking me, really, I wasn't sure if you meant what you said." the General said nervously, stepping from foot to foot. "I'm just so happy for you,"

The heiress offered a hand to him, and squeezed his fingers softly.

"This is what forgiveness looks like,"

This was the first wedding she'd attended, Korra thought, that had ever had two brides. Teenage Korra would be surprised this could ever happen, but secretly pleased. She adjusted her flowers, holding her breath, eyeing the clock. She watched the faces of her friends, Mako and Bolin on her side, Opal stood at another, and felt the pit in her stomach bubble and twist. Even Naga sat vigil at her side, too big to be a ring bearer now, in a few short months the puppy had become an adolescent, leaning bodily against her mother's side, ears too big for her head, feet still too big for her body, but still tall enough to slow dance with a fully grown human male in a pinch.

As safe as Korra felt, as certain she was that this was happening, she couldn't help but worry every second she wasn't with her. The last wedding she'd attended after all, didn't go so well, or so she thought; up until stealing the bride.

She looked at her father, back straight with an upright zeal, letting go of her mothers hand to give the eager thumbs up. She couldn't help but smile a little at him. A shiver ran up the open back of her dress, sending goosebumps across her shoulders and arms. Her hair was up in a bun of flowers, just like the pictures she'd seen of her own mother way back when. She'd decided today was the day she'd wear heels, not that Asami had even asked, you only get married once, Korra had told her, that means only one chance to make it perfect.

Korra wondered for a split second if the statement had scared her off until large, intricately carved doors boomed open. Meelo had kicked them apart earning a gasp followed by a chuckle from the crowd.

Asami's cheeks howled red, before her green eyes met blue ones, from all the way across the room and everything turned all right again. She clutched Iroh's arm for balance, as her bride's angular cheekbones, enhanced by her up-do, her elegant roll necked dress, and her defined shoulders singing through silk, knocked her for six. Ikki and Jinora held more flowers for her, whereas baby Rohan, now walking, threw petals at guests with excellent aim.

This was the first time Korra had seen her in that dress, she half expected her to reuse her old one, and of course she wouldn't blame her. The gesture of wearing something new, moved her more than she thought it would. This one looked different, smaller but in no way less grand, intricate lacework off the shoulders, the mermaid cut hugging her hips before billowing on the ground. Asami was a Queen, dark curls framing her exquisite deep green eyes, floating towards her. If gracing her with her poise and presence was all Korra ever got, she could die happy.

She made a point of walking slowly, savouring this moment, of leaping into the future, and for once being caught by the person who pledged to love her. She couldn't help but compare the two days, seeing for certain that the before could in know way match beside the after. Iroh guided her to place with a single hand, gently turning her to her future, before letting go, and taking his place amongst her friends.

When Asami was in proximity of her fiancee she kissed her gratefully, earning applause until the officiant cleared her throat.

"I haven't gotten to that part yet," she told them, and Asami cleared her throat, nodding barely listening, lost in the intricacies of the woman ahead of her, their fingers loosely tangled between them.

"I do," hearing Korra say it, felt like a miracle, and in her heart of hearts she felt her soul being fulfilled by it. The sculptor slipped a ring onto the finger she held, turning the diamond until it glinted, winking at them both.

"I do too," she added, before the officiant had even finished her line. Taking the ribbon necklace in her fingers and unfurling it, tying it around Korra's throat.

"Now you may kiss the bride,"

Already in her orbit, her arms crossed behind her neck the rest of the way, kissing her sweetly, and to riotous applause.

"Speech!" Bolin started the chant, and soon enough the rest of the party joined in, having been enjoying the free bar since arriving at the venue.

Asami looked at Korra, whom was smiling but throat tight. Korra squeezed her wife's hand thrice and gazed at her expectantly, you go.

Gingerly, at the brides table, she stood, and people ceased clinking glasses to listen.

"I want to thank you all for coming. The people who mean the most to me are here in this room. Even from beyond…" she trailed off, looking for the empty chairs at the end of their table, symmetrical with Tonraq's and Senna's. Korra had insisted, even though Asami had said it would be morbid, she couldn't help but imagine her parents, sat there; smiling at her, and for that she was grateful. "I know they would all be proud that I…have found happiness."

She felt her wife rubbing the small of her back gently, soothing her through the ancient pain.

"As many of you know…Korra fell in love with me slowly, deeply and most of all quietly, without me knowing; I, however, fell in love much faster and without much finesse. I basically argued with her to get her to give me the secret, and when we kissed, boy, did everything start making sense…You're my hero, and now my wife, and couldn't think of a happier ending to our story, and the best beginning to our new life. If you would all raise a toast, to Korra,"

"Korra," said the room.

"That's not fair," her wife countered, standing after Asami had taken upon herself to sit, holding her hand, kissing her ring, Korra said, "I walked into love with you all those years ago, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step of the way. Knowing that if you could never love me back I could still adore you from where I stood. I would build up my walls, and you would take them down, until finally helped me take them down for good. I have been writing these vows in my mind since I met you, and I could never settle on the combination of words to tell you all I'd do for you. It was only by kissing you I realised, words mean nothing without the act of love itself… I'll spend the rest of my life, loving you, showing you what you mean to me, and how happy you've made me." Korra raised her glass, "To my wife, I love you Asami."

Asami surged from her seat to kiss her this time, teary eyed to the sound of applause.

"God let's get married again," she laughed.

"After another Honeymoon, obviously." Korra told her balancing her forehead over hers.

There were many aspects of the wedding that had been planned to a tee, Asami liked to think of it as a collaborative project, and fretted over each detail, all the while hoping Korra wouldn't be scared away. It was something of a trigger for her. Korra on the other hand had taken as much as she could from her, and would calm her night and day when worries crept up. She did however delegate one single thing.

Kai wheeled out the mystery sculpture she'd commissioned from him. A month or so ago, he'd grilled on how she and Asami had 'met' and in the vaguest of terms told her his artistry would only ever seen on the day it was intended. She had to hand it to him, the kid had style. Upon the sight of blue and purple lights under the blanket, Kuvira sidled to the front of the crowd, having a healthy interest in the ice herself.

"May I present to you, the Lovers of Mt Makapu," he yanked at the blanket and the scale mountain glittered white and unthreatening blue. The ice incasing the cave was crystal clear, and any one from the out side could see the miniature boat inside, the manta rays trapped in their dives, and the women holding hands and the netting of a boat, model-lips just touching.

"He even got the algae right," Asami breathed kneeling.

"How did you-"

"I had a research partner," Kai winked at Jinora, who, stunned out of her reverie, shot him with finger guns.

"It's not going to go off is it?" Korra asked nervously.

"The back is a vodka luge," he shrugged, holding up a bottle of grey goose he was far too young to have purchased legally.

"Hired, you are hired for life,"

The Aang and The Korra ended with an unusual display, night had fallen on on their first day on Ember Island, and Korra watched the Tiki Torches of Kya's bar grow smaller on the beach behind them as they sailed away. Blue fireworks soared listlessly into the sky, the surfers of the competition waving them away. She saw Meelo, tall enough to compete at last, in his rash shirt, clutching his board waving harder than the rest.

Korra couldn't help but think of the last time she was on a boat, barely conscious and bleeding, only the thought didn't last long as her wife came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her stomach. She was happy to be replacing that memory with a much more pleasant one.

"Day two of being married to me," she punctuated the statement with a swift kiss to her throat. "How is it?"

"I wore a dress in front my parents, I daresay they were happy about that. I've been on in a rolls royce, a jet and now a boat. Many vehicles in one day we just sailed away from a festival that is named after me…and I have a dog, and a wife… I think I'm set, for life, and that's not even mentioning that you're a millionaire,"

"Okay now you're a little too smug right now, bring it down a peg," Asami kissed her cheek, "I have the most perfect bride in all of the world," she balanced her forehead on the back of Korra's head, "That's it, I love you and you're literally all I need to be happy."

"I love you too,"

"Do you think they can see us now?" Asami asked, balancing her chin on her wife's healed strong shoulder.

"We can see them so, yes?"

"Don't you want to go to bed, and start enjoying our actual honeymoon,"

"I am having fun, oh," Korra balked at the sensation of a wet kiss being placed at the crux of her jaw.

"I can drop the anchor and be below deck in lingerie in thirty seconds."

"What?"

The arms slipped away and within two seconds the sound of rope grinding against the box and the anchor hitting the seabed rang out. Naga grunted at the sound, but went back to gazing up at the stars in a warmer sky, docile and oddly soothed by the sea.

"I died," Korra whispered under her breath, gripping her sweater and pulling it over her head, "I died and I'm in heaven," she added pursuing her.

The cabin was snug, and celestial. Asami had made a point of decorating before Korra had even seen it. Lit corner to corner with fairy lights, hibiscus petals smattered on every surface, their photographs, with Korra's trademark, dimpled, even smile captured on a variety of occasions throughout their relationship. Both significant, and mundane.

Korra could ignore all of it though at the sight of the woman before her, holding champagne.

"I lied about the lingerie," Asami admitted, alabaster skin glowing in the star light. Korra's eyes devoured the sight of her, tongue wetting her lips at those hardening pink nipples, the slender curve of her hips, the dark, tamed thatch of hair between her legs, the long legs themselves.

"I can't believe this is happening," Korra whispered, jaw tight with emotion, her own fingers flying to her necklace.

"What would make you believe it?" the heiress asked, genuinely curious, tone suggestive as she took a step toward her, craning her neck to the side to better brandish her necklace, "I'll do anything,"

Korra's lips hovered over Asami's, her arms aloft holding the glasses, Korra's own hands hovering just above her hips.

"Anything?" Korra countered, watching Asami bite her rouge tinted lip and nod. Her green eyes fell to Korra's lips and back up. The Sculptor's hands came up, the tips of her fingers grazing skin, teasing the peak of her breast but only for a moment, "Touch yourself?"

Asami felt a tightness build within her, as she placed glasses on a shelf, and reclines herself on the bed. Black silken hair blooming beneath her like a halo. She couldn't feel self conscious new if she tried. Not as Korra watched her settle, pupils dilating, eyes hungry for what she was about to see.

She just wants, and without words she mimics being fucked by her wife, thumb teasing her nipple, body arching with the touch, scores her nails down her abdomen, until her fingers reached their mark and slipped easily amongst the wetness. With three fingers she parts herself, the middle deftly swiping at the pink that has her shuddering, playing with herself, circling a stiff clit.

All the while taking in the sounds of the ocean, and the warm bath of Korra's gaze as she dipped her fingers in her own entrance. Asami moaned with abandon. The sound of the plunge was all it took, her wife taking her wrist, pulling her out, slanting her mouth over ruby panting lips. When she pulled away, the musky scent drew her mouth to her wet fingers, sucking the flavour deep, all the while her own fingertips brush the tender twitching pink between her legs, every touch sending pulses of pleasure from her clit with barely a finger.

The heiress couldn't wait much longer, claiming her mouth, the tongue welcomed inside, tasting herself and Korra as her legs couldn't help but open wider.

It was clear, Korra wanted to draw this out.

"Please," she begged in turn tugging at Korra's short buttons, slipping her hand inside, watching those blues widen with surprise. "Korra,"

"All good things," the Ice Sculptor smiled, "Trust me," she added, taking a champagne glass and pouring just a tipple over Asami's clavicle, watching the fizzle fall and bead down her perfect shaking skin. She teases with her tongue, following that trail she took her lead kissing every drop, tasting it's vintage, hot breath billowing over her sensitive skin, tweaking her nipples with feather like touches.

Korra keeps up her slow, tortuous pace, worshipping her every whimper and moan.

"Ngh," she keened, eyes rolling back, intensely relieved that this was who she had chosen as her three incredible fingers entered her and stretched, suckling the peak of her breast until Asami's fingers flew into her hair. The tips curled and pumped while the heel of her strong hand worked on the outside, stroking her mound and creating an exquisite amount of friction over her twitching clit.

Pressure quickly built, and soon enough Asami's counter thrusts became frantic, closer to the edge. She knew a small shove would've got her there, but she wanted to leap, and she wanted Korra with her. Her own fingers curled, her thumb making precise circles over her wife's clit, swiping and pumping, the seams ripping on her shorts, her free hand clutching her close.

"Suck harder," she loved that she could say it, she loved that Korra would oblige, she didn't care if she'd be sore if it meant this moment of intense euphoria from fast fucking.

"I can feel how tight you are," Korra's voice crooned, "Come for me,"

"With me." Asami urged, fluttering her own fingers faster inside her.

Korra's body was bowing, the combination of the show, Asami's voice and her fingers inside her, had her shaking in ecstasy.

Her mouth slipped, and Asami captured it, kissing her enthusiastically, as her own orgasm shook her world. She could never get tired of how Korra made her muscles melt and radiate pleasure, every cognisant part of her body left working could only ask for one thing; more.

Even coming down from it she found her hips still cantering, Korra's body flush against hers, her teeth scoring gently against her jaw.

The shorts must go, she thought taking her hand from them, the shorts, and then that stupid t-shirt.

Korra had taken a liking to the Ember Island is for Lovers T-shirt, that strangely enough was a gift from Mako. Asami unwrapped her, less desperate, taking in every inch of skin she uncovered, the sweat, the feint prints of left clothing, hickeys left by her own mouth. Soon enough, once she'd stripped her she couldn't help but pepper kisses over her chest, getting lost on the lost pigmentation on Korra's shoulder. A storm of emotions passed over the sculptors visage, Asami instinctively cupped her cheek and soothed her, lips passing over her cheek, crooning in her ear.

Hooking her fingers on her waist band she pressed a deeply meaningful kiss over the marks, before letting Korra take control of the kiss as she dragged down those infernal shorts.

She descended her body, tongue tracing the indents between abs until she kisses her way past her navel. She couldn't help but look up at her from between her legs, her curved torso, dark nipples erect, her strong arm bracing her grip on the head of the bed, muscles twitching as Asami's tongue stroked her thigh, and her lips followed, suckling closer and closer to her centre.

"What's the count now?" Asami asked and Korra shudders, eyes clearing just a little as her breath percolates over sensitive open nerves.

"What?"

"The count, or at least the only one that matters now,"

"I don't- I lost count,"

"You're winning," Asami tells her, guiding her leg over her shoulder, "Four hundred and twelve over Four, ten,"

The ice sculptor grins, about to pose a rebuttal, but a long stroke of a tongue laving her cunt silences her, and her hand flies to the crook of Asami's neck, holding her there as her clit is suckled. She's so wound up it doesn't take long for Korra to openly grind her mound over Asami's mouth, her fingers pumping mercilessly as she expertly fucks her best friend with practiced ease.

Korra's back rises from the mattress, pushing herself down on Asami as she eats her out, taking her forceful ruts and giving back as best she could, taking as much of her as she can into her mouth, and pumping her fingers deep against the clenching and her becoming slippery. Korra comes quivering, writhing, her back arching but her hand still tenderly cupping the back of the heiress' head, who laves her lovingly until the trembling passes.

She climbs up her body and settles in her arms, kissing her essence onto her neck, cheek, before whispering teasingly.

"Four eleven,"

Incensed Korra yanks back her breath, laughing, tucking and rolling her. Drunk on the moment, the euphoria, she took a toy she'd been saving for just such an occasion from a case beside the bed. Asami knows this particular model, and she knows it's Korra's favourite, she's quick with the harness, and as she kisses her she reached between them and slid the saddle into place over Korra's clit. She could see the record player in her head skip as she did this, when it caught up again she whatever was playing had upped tempo considerably.

The heiress found her self turned, face down, Korra laying her palm flat on Asami's lower back she nudges the head in place before pausing, waiting.

The heiress marvelled at the confidence her wife now possessed, turning her head on the pillow to catch her eye behind her before bucking into the toy, dragging it against her slit.

The joint satisfying pull had them both crying out, Asami can't help but push her mouth into the pillow to keep the pitch ringing out. As the pressure mounted on Korra's clit, the shaft climbed inside Asami, filling her, stretching her, making her shake as overly sensitive walls closed in around it as Korra thrusted.

Korra was truly curious to see how far she could take this; changing positions, mouth or tongue or strap, until they truly lost count and were lost totally in each other.

Towards the last climaxes of the night, their skin was sheathed with sweat, swollen lips, bruised skin, and a gentle canter of her hips, she made love to her wife. Staring deep into her eyes and feeling forever changed as foreheads touched and the heiress cupped her cheek. This was the only thing that was real, in her heart of hearts she knew this, as Asami kissed her, grateful, calm and soothing.

Asami fell asleep first, splayed on her chest and utterly spent, joints popped out of sockets, body still tingling. Korra laid awake, looking up at the stars through the sky light.

It must've been a while as Asami started to shiver in her sleep, she took a blanket that had been tossed off to the side of the bed and covered her with it. Almost immediately she settled back in to her arms, content.

"Naga wait! Not without your floaties Naga!" Korra struggled with the wolf as she struggled itching to play, leaping into the sea. "Shit!" Korra wrestled with her new boating shoes in a panic and tripped, barely stopping her ribs from colliding with the deck when she heard the unmistakeable splish splash of doggy paddle. "Oh." she balked, "You like that?"

Naga barked happily in reply.

"Care to swim with me, K?" Asami asked, perusing the edge of the boat as though planning her entry point in the crystal blue waters.

Korra experienced some serious deja vu at the heiress, dropping her shorts, looking over her shoulder in her bathing suit, throwing her a wink.

"Just so long as we stay away from the volcano this time," Korra chagrinned, still acutely aware the mountain was a mile away from where they were anchored, behind her and slightly to the left.

"Didn't I mention? I established a Future Industries volcanic research centre here on the island, so if Makapu is about to go off, this time there'll be fair warning."

"What?"

"Did you think I would take you here again if there was a chance it would end the same way?" The heiress cupped her cheek as Korra struggled to breath at the emotions throttling her chest then, "I never want you to be afraid Korra," she told her.

Korra nodded and let her arms do her talking, hugging Asami tight to her chest, pressing her eyes into her neck.

"Take the plunge with me,"

"Wait, What?" the world was already turning sideways as Korra exclaimed this.

The water rushed up around them. She could feel the sure and certain tug of a hand on her wrist guiding her up, and when she surfaced that arm placed her grip on the rope on the side of the boat. Korra shook out her short locks while catching her breath, fuming until the moment she saw Asami's eyes crinkling with her held back laughter.

"Oh, I see you," Korra seethed as she tugged her close, grinning and instinctively Asami angled her head. Fingers knotting in her loosely tied up locks, electricity zipping through her whole being as her lips pressed to hers gently, palm rising out of the waves to cup her cheek.

"I'm really glad I made you come on my honeymoon." Asami breathed when they finally parted.

"Me too," Korra whispered, almost bashful. Almost, but not quite.


End file.
